Gastroenterology clinics of North America
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Gastroenterol. Clin. North Am. · Mar 2010
ReviewGastrointestinal symptoms and diseases related to obesity: an overview.
Obesity is a leading cause of illness and death worldwide. It is a risk factor for many common gastrointestinal symptoms and digestive disorders, including many cancers. Disruption of mechanisms that regulate appetite and satiety are fundamental to the development of obesity. Knowledge of these issues that are discussed in this article will provide the basis to develop health strategies to prevent obesity-related diseases.
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This article examines the transitions in pharmacological therapy for obesity. It reviews the current options approved by the Food and Drug Administration and several drugs approved for other indications that can be used to treat obesity as well. Because weight regulation is complex and redundant systems protect against perceived starvation, optimal treatment of obesity in individual patients will likely require different combinations of behavioral, nutritional, pharmacologic, endoscopic, and surgical therapies.
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Gastroenterol. Clin. North Am. · Dec 2009
ReviewSafety profile of IBD therapeutics: infectious risks.
Over the last decade, the medical treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been revolutionized, with increasing use of both immunomodulatory and biologic medications. Corticosteroids have increasingly been associated with an elevated risk of serious and opportunistic infections, both independently and in combination with immunomodulator and biologic agents. ⋯ It is unclear if anti-tumor necrosis factor agents increase overall infectious risk in patients with IBD, but the available literature has demonstrated an increased risk of opportunistic infections, particularly in terms of tuberculosis and histoplasmosis. Combination therapy likely increases the risk of opportunistic infections in patients with IBD but this has not yet been conclusively proved.
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Colonic diverticulosis is a common, usually asymptomatic, entity of Western countries, with an incidence that increases with age. When these diverticula become infected and inflamed, patients can present with a wide variety of clinical manifestations. Management of acute, uncomplicated diverticulitis can often be treated successfully with antibiotics alone and the decision to proceed with more aggressive measures such as surgical intervention is made on a case-by-case basis. The treatment algorithm for diverticular disease continues to evolve as the pathophysiology, etiology, and natural history of the disease becomes better understood.
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Gastroenterol. Clin. North Am. · Jun 2009
ReviewThe role of proton pump inhibitors in the management of upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
Pre-endoscopic administration of PPIs in patients with nonvariceal upper GI bleeding is still of controversial efficacy. It downstages the severity of the endoscopic signs of recent bleeding and may reduce the requirement for endoscopic hemostatic therapy at index endoscopy. However, there is no evidence of an effect on mortality, rebleeding, or surgical intervention rates. ⋯ There is no evidence of an overall effect of PPI treatment on all-cause mortality. However, all-cause mortality is reduced among patients with high-risk endoscopic signs and among trials that had been conducted in Asia. The optimal dose and route of PPI administration has yet to be determined.