News Related to Digestive Disorders

1. Celiac Disease: Faster Gluten Test
   

   Nov. 14, 2008 -- Scientists have developed a new test that could speed up identification of gluten, a trigger for people with celiac disease. Gluten-free foods are already on the market. But gluten can lurk in products that people might not expect. People with celiac disease have to avoid gluten com

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2. Peppermint Oil, Fiber Can Treat IBS
   

   Nov. 13, 2008 -- Largely overlooked, older remedies like peppermint oil and fiber are effective treatments for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a review of the research shows. The analysis shows that these remedies and some antispasmodic drugs that are no longer widely prescribed work well, researche

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3. Probiotic May Help Treat Crohn's Disease
   

   Oct. 20, 2008 -- A gut bacterium called F. prausnitzii may make a good probiotic treatment for Crohn's disease, French researchers report. The scientists noticed that patients whose Crohn's disease recurred within six months of Crohn's disease surgery tended to be low on F. prausnitzii, compared to

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4. Fatty Liver Disease: Genes Affect Risk
   

   Sept. 26, 2008 -- Newly discovered gene variants explain why Hispanics are most likely -- and African-Americans are least likely -- to have fatty livers. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver ailment in the U.S. and in Europe. It's behind one in 10 liver transplants. Abou

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5. Nuts Don't Up Risk of Diverticulitis
   

   Aug. 26, 2008 -- There is good news for people with diverticular disease who have been told to avoid nuts, corn, and popcorn. Instead of increasing the risk for the digestive disorder diverticulitis, as has long been suspected, these foods may actually lower risk of the condition, according to findi

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6. Chew Gum for Colon Surgery Recovery
   

   Aug. 18, 2008 -- Simply chewing gum after colon surgery can reduce recovery time and shorten hospital stays, a review of research shows. It could also save more than $100 million in health care spending annually, according to findings from one study. In the U.S. alone, postoperative ileus -- the med

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7. Acid Reflux Drugs May Up Fractures
   

   Aug. 11, 2008 -- Using acid reflux drugs called proton pump inhibitors for at least seven years may be linked to increased risk of osteoporosis-related fractures. That news comes from a Canadian study of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and osteoporosis-related fractures. PPIs are a class of drugs that

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8. Patch May Prevent Traveler's Diarrhea
   

   June 12, 2008 -- A new skin patch may help protect travelers from a common vacation spoiler: traveler's diarrhea. Researchers testing the experimental diarrhea vaccine found the patches reduced the likelihood of contracting traveler's diarrhea among people going to high-risk areas like Mexico. In ad

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9. Drugs Ease Hard-to-Treat Constipation
   

   May 28, 2008 -- Results only now reported from a 12-week clinical trial that ended nine years ago suggest that a new drug, Resolor, helps people with chronic constipation. Meanwhile, promising findings suggest that a new form of naltrexone, a drug used to block the narcotic effects of opioids in add

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10. Gut Bug Gets Deadlier
    

    May 28, 2008 -- A virulent new strain of the gut bug C. diff is sweeping the U.S. Among those who fall ill, the fatality rate has doubled to 2.2%. A new study shows that diagnosed adult cases of C. diff more than doubled in five years: from 134,361 cases in 2000 to 291,303 cases in 2005. It's a "gro

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