IBS doesn’t alter response to antibiotics in functional dyspepsia
The presence of concomitant IBS does not significantly influence the improvement of functional dyspepsia symptoms after antibiotic therapy.
A small Queensland study comprised 21 adults with functional dyspepsia, with or without IBS, managed with rifaximin (550 mg BD) for 10 days.
The study found a significant improvement in the total GI symptom score and individual symptom subscores for dyspepsia and diarrhea from baseline to 6 weeks post-treatment.
The response to rifaximin was not influenced by concomitant IBS symptoms.
Read more in Digestive Diseases and Sciences
Risk factor patterns for GERD and Barrett’s
Female sex, younger age, lower socioeconomic position (SEP) and educational attainment, and former smoking are associated with higher gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) risk.
An Australian study of risk factors in a cohort of more than 20,000 adults followed over a mean of 15.8 years also found male sex and smoking were associated with earlier GERD symptom onset.
The study, led by the University of Melbourne, found men, older participants, those with higher SEP, and former smokers were at higher risk of Barrett’s esophagus.
The investigators said the earlier GERD symptom onset in men and smokers may have contributed to the higher risk of BE.
“These findings would be important in the development of clinical risk prediction models for early detection of BE,” they said.
Read more in Diseases of the Esophagus
Top 10 Choosing Wisely tips for COVID-19
An international taskforce on Choosing Wisely for COVID-19 has released its top ten recommendation for the general public and for physicians.
The 18-member taskforce from India, Canada, the US and UK, encompassed the disciplines of public health, primary care, infectious diseases, respiratory medicine, critical care and more.
The five recommendations for the general public reinforce prevention messages, when to get tested and when to seek medical help.
The five recommendations for physicians focus on the management of COVID-19. They are:
- Do not use prescribe unproven or ineffective therapies for COVID-19
- Do not use drugs like remdesivir and tocilizumab except in specific circumstance where they may be of use
- Do use steroids prudently only in patients with hypoxia, and monitor blood sugar levels to keep them in normal range
- Do not routinely perform investigations that do not guide treatment, such as CT scans and inflammatory markers
- Do not ignore the management of critical non-COVID-19 disease during the pandemic.
Read more in Nature Medicine