Health News

New material could make it easier to remove colon polyps: Gel cushion used to elevate polyps during endoscopy could reduce the risk of tearing the colon lining

More than 15 million colonoscopies are performed in the United States every year, and in at least 20 percent of those, gastroenterologists end up removing precancerous growths from the colon. Eliminating these early-stage lesions, known as polyps, is the best way to prevent colon cancer from developing. To reduce the risk of tearing the colon […]

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New way to protect against high-dose radiation damage discovered

Radiotherapy, a common treatment for cancer, is one of the most effective ways to destroy cancer cells and shrink tumours. Around 50% of patients with tumours located in the gastrointestinal cavity (liver, pancreas, colon, prostate, etc) receive this type of treatment, which has increased cancer survival rates over the past decades. However, intensive radiation therapy […]

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When mucus can be key to treating colon and airway diseases

New research reveals how healthy cells in our bodies produce mucins — the main component of mucous, which protects our intestine and airway from pathogens, toxins and allergens. Scientists have already linked defects in mucins secretion to airway and colonic diseases, such as asthma or ulcerative colitis. Now, researchers at Malhotra’s laboratory in Barcelona, reveal […]

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Increased mortality in children with inflammatory bowel disease

Children who develop inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease) have an increased risk of death, both in childhood and later in life, a study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in the journal Gastroenterology reports. It is therefore important that patients who are diagnosed as children are carefully monitored, argue the researchers behind […]

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Doctors issue caution over missed cancer diagnoses tied to immune disorder: Study shows HLH diagnosis may obscure underlying malignancies

Physicians who specialize in a devastating and aggressive immune disorder called hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) report in a new study that extra care should be taken to ensure an HLH diagnosis doesn’t obscure possible underlying cancers. Because HLH is dangerously aggressive in its progression and attack on vital organs — often causing death — doctors frequently […]

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First gut bacteria may have lasting effect on ability to fight chronic diseases: Discovery could eventually allow doctors to establish beneficial gut bacteria in infants right after birth

New research showing that the first bacteria introduced into the gut have a lasting impact may one day allow science to adjust microbiomes — the one-of-a-kind microbial communities that live in our gastrointestinal tracts — to help ward off serious chronic diseases. Findings by U of A microbial ecologist Jens Walter and his colleagues suggest […]

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A pill for delivering biomedical micromotors

Using tiny micromotors to diagnose and treat disease in the human body could soon be a reality. But keeping these devices intact as they travel through the body remains a hurdle. Now in a study appearing in ACS Nano, scientists report that they have found a way to encapsulate micromotors into pills. The pill’s coating […]