Ben Bradenham Jr., MD, a gastroenterologist at Gastrointestinal Specialists in Richmond, Va., joined Becker’s to discuss how physician education is failing in attempts to counter burnout. Editor’s note: This interview was edited lightly for clarity. Question: Where does physician education fall short? Dr. Ben Bradenham: The identification and prevention of burnout has been an increasingly popular concept in medical education. This has manifested mostly as an effort to emphasize to medical students the importance of balance in their lives and to take care of themselves through exercise, etc. While helpful for some, I believe this effort will only go so far in preventing…
Author: Praveen Suthrum
A new expert commentary from the American Gastroenterological Association focuses on noninvasive screening options for colorectal cancer (CRC), as well as approaches to ensure quality in noninvasive screening programs. The commentary was published in Gastroenterology. The American Cancer Society reported in its Cancer Facts & Figures 2021 report that lifetime risk of CRC in the United States is 4%, and those with above average risk are recommended to undergo CRC screening at an earlier age, with colonoscopy as a screening modality. Between 75% and 80% of the U.S. population is considered at average risk, and this is the group covered by the expert commentary.…
Healthcare is enduring a period of discontinuity on several fronts. Most obviously, the Covid-19 pandemic continues to stress the supply chain, wrench forward the previously gradual progress of digital care, and stretch many sectors thin with labor shortages. Apart from the pandemic, other structural changes are washing through healthcare systems globally that give reason for optimism. One positive shift is that technological innovations—including digital tools that redefine how patients interact with care, the use of artificial intelligence in drug discovery, and software that enables value-based care—are helping companies build new business models.
CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–metaMe Health, Inc. (metaMe), a Prescription Digital Therapeutics (PDT) company and developer of ReguloraⓇ, the first FDA-authorized PDT specifically for abdominal pain associated with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) in adults, today announced that it has received $2.2M in funding in a bridge round led by Hyde Park Angels (HPA), with additional investments from individuals. The funds will be used to continue preparation for Regulora’s market launch and to build out metaMe’s commercial infrastructure.
Virtual-care company Firefly Health is partnering with digital gastrointestinal-health startup Oshi Health to offer digital digestive care. As part of the deal, Firefly members receive access to virtual visits with a care team, including providers, dietitians and psychologists. They can also use symptom-tracking tools and message health coaches to support lifestyle changes.
Nearly one-third of patients with inflammatory bowel disease did not undergo objective disease activity assessment or therapeutic drug monitoring prior to biologic dose change or discontinuation, according to a study.
The use of 5-aminosalicylic acid significantly increases the risk for Clostridioides difficile infection in pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease, according to a new meta-analysis. There is scant literature and conflicting findings on CDI risk factors in the pediatric IBD population according to the investigators. For example, antibiotic use in pediatric patients has shown mixed results. “Some studies reported that use of antibiotics was associated with higher CDI rates, while others showed that there was no effect,” they wrote.
PHILADELPHIA — Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells can be remarkably effective in treating leukemias and lymphomas, but there are no successful immunotherapies for neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) and gastrointestinal cancers (GICs) yet. Researchers at Penn Medicine have discovered that CAR-T cells directed to a tumor antigen, CDH17, a cell surface marker expressed on both NETs and GICs but also found on healthy tissues, eliminated GICs in several preclinical models without toxicity to normal tissues in multiple mouse organs, including the small intestine and colon. The results from this study, the first to target CDH17 in neuroendocrine tumors, suggest a new class of tumor…
Endoscopic stricturotomy could be an alternative to endoscopic balloon dilation for managing some strictures related to inflammatory bowel disease. According to a study presented at the 2022 Crohn’s & Colitis Congress, ESt was successful in treating 90% of strictures in IBD patients, although roughly half of the patients required a repeat intervention within 18 months.
A new investigation from Sweden found that patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) had low intake of micronutrients that associated inversely with total IBS-severity scoring system (SSS), extraintestinal IBS-SSS, and fatigue. However, investigators found that a starch- and sucrose-reduced diet (SSRD) increased the intake of several micronutrients which correlated weakly with symptom improvement.