Gastroenterology News

• New Residency Matching Sets Record, Says NRMP Highest number of applicants ever are matched to subspecialty training positions, as number of US MD and international grads both rise.
  Medscape Medical News, December 04, 2020
• Cancer Rates on the Rise in Adolescents and Young Adults Rates of cancer diagnosis increased by 30% among adolescents and young adults in the United States between 1973 and 2015, and deaths from two cancer types increased also.
  Medscape Medical News, December 04, 2020
• Healthcare Spending in 2020 May Drop, Reversing Growth Trend This is the first time spending has dropped year-over-year since the 1960s; however, the decrease will probably be small.
  Medscape Medical News, December 03, 2020
• RSNA 2020 Teenage Bone Density Declines Following Sleeve Gastrectomy These patients may never reach peak bone mass.
  Medscape Medical News, December 03, 2020
• Pembrolizumab 'Preferred Choice' in MSI-H/dMMR Metastatic CRC Compared with chemotherapy, pembrolizumab doubled progression-free survival and improved the overall response rate in this patient population.
  Medscape Medical News, December 02, 2020
• First Guidelines for Keto Diets in Adults With Epilepsy Released An international panel has developed the first set of recommendations for use of ketogenic diets in adults with epilepsy.
  Medscape Medical News, December 01, 2020
• AASLD 2020 AASLD 2020: A Clinical News Roundup 'We chose papers that had the highest level of evidence, such as randomized controlled trials, controlled studies, and large datasets -- and some small datasets too,' said Tamar Taddei, MD, Yale Univ.
  Medscape Medical News, November 30, 2020
• FDA Clears First Drug for Rare Genetic Causes of Severe Obesity Setmelanotide (Imcivree) is indicated for weight management in adults and children as young as 6 years with severe obesity driven by genetic deficits in the melanocortin-4 receptor pathway.
  FDA Approvals, November 30, 2020
• No-Biopsy Diagnosis of CD an Option in 'Carefully Selected' Adult Patients No-biopsy diagnosis of celiac disease is possible in both adults and children, although the sensitivity is low, new findings suggest.
  Reuters Health Information, November 25, 2020
• New Normal Metrics Should Be Used to Assess Gastroesophageal Reflux, Researchers Say New normal values for esophageal impedance-pH metrics, adjusted for region and testing system, should be used to assess gastroesophageal reflux, researchers say, although some experts remain unconvinced.
  Reuters Health Information, November 26, 2020
• Review Shows That Pharma Payments Do Influence Prescribing While many physicians resist the idea that pharma payments influence their prescribing, a new review finds a dose-response relationship between the two.
  Medscape Medical News, November 27, 2020
• When and Why Do Diverticulitis Patients Need Surgery? An update to the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) guideline on diverticular disease suggests that surgery may not be needed in many cases, while a study of laparoscopic resection shows that quality of life may improve, although risks exist.
  Reuters Health Information, November 24, 2020
• Medical Leaders Launch Grassroots Doctors' Alliance Inaugural town hall introduces a movement to unite doctors behind a single issue: the restoration of the physician–patient relationship.
  Medscape Medical News, November 25, 2020
• Anticytokine Therapy Normalizes ACE2 Expression in IBD, May Protect Against COVID-19 Anticytokine therapy curbs inflammatory bowel disease symptoms by normalizing reduced or elevated ACE2 levels, and could play a protective role in COVID-19 as well, researchers suggest.
  Reuters Health Information, November 23, 2020
• Alert FDA Clears First Drug to Treat Ultra-Rare Metabolic Disorder Lumasiran (Oxlumo) is the first treatment for primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1), a rare genetic disorder that causes recurrent kidney stones and loss of kidney function.
  FDA Approvals, November 24, 2020
• Even Mild NAFLD Associated With Higher Mortality All stages of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are associated with significantly increased overall mortality, and this risk increases progressively with worsening disease, Swedish researchers have found.
  Reuters Health Information, November 20, 2020
• CHEST 2020 Telehealth Finds Acceptance Among Patients With Cf, Clinicians Telehealth is widely accepted among individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF) and the physicians who treat them, according to three new studies.
  Medscape Medical News, November 23, 2020
• NAFLD Prevalence Rising Among Children but Many Undiagnosed The incidence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is rising among children, but not all youth with obesity are getting recommended screening, a study in California suggests.
  Reuters Health Information, November 19, 2020
• Rapid Relief of Opioid-Induced Constipation With MNTX Subcutaneous use of methylnaltrexone (MNTX) provides rapid relief both for patients with chronic noncancer pain and for those with cancer-related illness.
  Medscape Medical News, November 20, 2020
• AASLD 2020 Aspirin and Statins in Chronic Hepatitis B: It's Complicated Statins play a bigger part than aspirin in reducing risk for hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with hepatitis B, new research shows, and cirrhosis seems to cancel any beneficial effect of aspirin.
  Medscape Medical News, November 19, 2020