Recently, Carlo DiLorenzo came to Atlanta as the speaker for the William Meyers Lectureship. He provided a terrific talk and was the perfect speaker for this lectureship which honors Billy.

Some of the key points:

• When giving a lecture, often ‘a great study is one that supports the speaker’s view’
• Physicians often have biases against patients with functional disorders as compared to those who have “rightful” suffering (eg. cancer, pancreatitis)
• Key part of patient-physician relationship is listening (by the physician). Patients report better satisfaction and perceive to be understood better when a physician is sitting (while listening). “The most important technological advance in the practice of medicine was the invention of the chair. For you to sit in. While you take the history” (Mark Reid, MD)
• Diagnoses have side effects
• Families remember our words for years
• We are not well-equipped to deliver good news: “This is one of the best colons I have ever seen…Your child has irritable bowel and no other tests are needed.”
• The most under prescribed treatment: 30 minutes of physical activity everyday
• 2^nd most under prescribed treatment is a good night’s sleep.  Increased symptoms when tired
• “Psychobezoar,” referring to a fear of discomfort with eating, could be used as an alternative to ARFID
• Most effective treatment for IBS: cognitive behavioral therapy
• Distraction is helpful tool for pain but need to teach parents to accept this tool
• Some of the axioms in the lecture are attributed to Mark Reid, MD

Related blog post: #NASPGHAN19 Postgraduate Course -part 3

Here are some of the slides from this talk: