Bowel Problems
Active obese adults may have less digestive trouble
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Obese adults who exercise may be less likely than their sedentary peers to suffer abdominal cramps, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems, according to a new study.
Though it’s not clear that exercise explains the difference, the findings suggest that overweight people might ease their digestive symptoms by becoming more active, researchers say.
Walking improves bowel prep for colonoscopy
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The value of colonoscopy for screening for colon cancer depends a lot on how well the bowel is cleared before the procedure—and now physicians in South Korea have shown that the usual cleansing process is improved by having patients simply walk.
Walking results in better colon cleansing without increasing patient discomfort and should be recommended as part of routine colonoscopic bowel preparation, the team says.
New Ways To Ease Liver Disease
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Many patients with liver diseases often encounter difficulties with therapy and ultimately require liver transplant to survive. Since many acute and chronic liver diseases are driven by immune-mediated mechanisms, there is a necessity to find new therapies that can inhibit these immune-based triggers and block liver damage. In a study appearing online on March 3 in advance of publication in the April 1 print edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Christian Trautwein, Christian Klein, and colleagues from Hannover Medical School identify new therapeutic targets in liver diseases.
Acupoint stimulation shows promise for heartburn
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A no-needle version of acupuncture could offer a new way to battle chronic heartburn, if preliminary research pans out.
The study, involving heartburn-free volunteers, found that electrical stimulation of an acupuncture point on the wrist reduced the number of “relaxations” in the band of muscle surrounding the passage from the esophagus to the stomach.
Hand gels may help families fight stomach ills
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When one child in a family comes down with a stomach bug, alcohol-based hand gels may help keep it from spreading to everyone in the house, researchers reported Tuesday.
In a study of nearly 300 families, the researchers found that those that were given hand-sanitizing gels to use at home tended to suffer fewer cases of “stomach flu.” All of the families had young children in daycare, putting them at high risk of passing around the colds and gastrointestinal bugs that preschoolers often bring home.
Rifaximin protects against Montezuma’s revenge
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The antibiotic rifaximin seems to be effective for preventing Traveler’s Diarrhea, not just for treating the problem, according to a new report.
Rifaximin, sold under the brand name Xifaxan (and possibly others), is not absorbed into the bloodstream so it’s useful for treating intestinal infections. It has proven to be an effective treatment for travelers’ diarrhea, and was recently approved for this purpose in the US.
