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Gastroenterology
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Gastroenterology is the field of medicine concerned with the function and disorders of the digestive system. The digestive system is a series of hollow organs joined in a long, twisting tube leading from the mouth, through the stomach, intestines and finally to the anus. Any food and drink is converted into smaller molecules of nutrients by stomach acid in order to be absorbed into the blood and carried to all cells throughout the body in order to keep the body sound and healthy. Digestion involves the mixing of food, its movement through the digestive tract and the chemical breakdown of the large molecules of food into smaller molecules.
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Gastroenterology is the branch of medicine dealing with the study of disorders affecting the stomach, intestines, and related organs of the gastrointestinal tract. These disorders may affect the esophagus (food tube), stomach, small intestine, large intestine (colon), rectum, liver, gallbladder and pancreas. In gastroenterology, doctors diagnose and treat diseases that are as varied as the digestive tract itself, from heartburn to colorectal cancer. Gastroenterology, a subspecialty of internal medicine, is so broad that many doctors specialize in diseases of particular parts of the digestive system, such as the liver and gallbladder.
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Indian researchers, from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology (AIG), have identified two genes that are responsible for Tropical Calcific Pancreatitis (TCP). The disease has been spreading in many Indian states and in South Asia. According to the researchers, the disease is caused by mutations in SPINKI and Cathepsin B genes. The identification of these genes can help in developing genetic screening for early detection of the disease and for taking preventive measures. TCP, initially known as Kerala Pancreatitis because of the disease's prevalence in Kerala, has spread to Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The research team conducted the study on 306 patients suffering from TCP and 330 healthy persons.
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An expert panel, convened by the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) on Friday, April 6th met to discuss the most recent data in the field of hepatitis diagnosis and treatment. Data presented at the meeting detailed the various molecular tools available to community based Gastroenterologists. Dr. Gary L. Davis, Professor of Medicine at the University of Florida, confirmed that management of patients being treated with interferon and ribavirin for chronic hepatitis C requires reliable quantitative testing of viral levels and the most sensitive tests available to measure response to therapy. Dr. Davis presented data with Bayer Diagnostics' new transcription mediated amplification (TMA) assay in patients who had responded to interferon, tested negative by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) at the end of treatment, but later relapsed. Half of these patients remain virus positive when tested by the new TMA assay (Table 1). "By utilizing the most sensitive assay available, physicians and patients will be able to more accurately assess treatment response and be better equipped to rationally alter the treatment plan to improve outcomes", said Dr. Davis.
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Gastroenterology is linked with the field of hepatology, which is the field of medicine concerned with the liver and pancreas, two organs ... involved in the digestive process. For more information on the liver, please visit the hospital's Comprehensive Liver Disease Center.
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The University of Utah and Salt Lake City VAMC have the only accredited three-year fellowship program in Gastroenterology in the Intermountain West. Two newpositions are offered each year. Approximately 300 new patients are seen each month and approximately 700 endoscopic procedures are performed each month. GI Fellows experience a rich training environment with rotations at the UUMC, SLC VAMC, and HCI. All areas of GI and hepatology are provided through the fellowship program, including therapeutic endoscopy, liver transplant, motility, and endoscopic ultrasound.university of utah gastroenterology
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