Author Archives: gutsandgrowth

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About gutsandgrowth

I am a pediatric gastroenterologist at GI Care for Kids (previously called CCDHC) in Atlanta, Georgia. The goal of my blog is to share some of my reading in my field more broadly. In addition, I wanted to provide my voice to a wide range of topics that often have inaccurate or incomplete information. Before starting this blog in 2011, I would tear out articles from journals and/or keep notes in a palm pilot. This blog helps provide an updated source of information that is easy to access and search, along with links to useful multimedia sources. I was born and raised in Chattanooga. After graduating from the University of Virginia, I attended Baylor College of Medicine. I completed residency and fellowship training at the University of Cincinnati at the Children’s Hospital Medical Center. I received funding from the National Institutes of Health for molecular biology research of the gastrointestinal tract. During my fellowship, I had the opportunity to work with some of the most amazing pediatric gastroenterologists and mentors. Some of these individuals included Mitchell Cohen, William Balistreri, James Heubi, Jorge Bezerra, Colin Rudolph, John Bucuvalas, and Michael Farrell. I am grateful for their teaching and their friendship. During my training with their help, I received a nationwide award for the best research by a GI fellow. I have authored numerous publications/presentations including original research, case reports, review articles, and textbook chapters on various pediatric gastrointestinal problems. In addition, I have been recognized by Atlanta Magazine as a "Top Doctor" in my field multiple times. Currently, I am the vice chair of the section of nutrition for the Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. In addition, I am an adjunct Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine. Other society memberships have included the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN), American Academy of Pediatrics, the Food Allergy Network, the American Gastroenterology Association, the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. As part of a national pediatric GI organization called NASPGHAN (and its affiliated website GIKids), I have helped develop educational materials on a wide-range of gastrointestinal and liver diseases which are used across the country. Also, I have been an invited speaker for national campaigns to improve the evaluation and treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease, celiac disease, eosinophilic esophagitis, hepatitis C, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Some information on these topics has been posted at my work website, www.gicareforkids.com, which has links to multiple other useful resources. I am fortunate to work at GI Care For Kids. Our group has 17 terrific physicians with a wide range of subspecialization, including liver diseases, feeding disorders, eosinophilic diseases, inflammatory bowel disease, cystic fibrosis, DiGeorge/22q, celiac disease, and motility disorders. Many of our physicians are recognized nationally for their achievements. Our group of physicians have worked closely together for many years. None of the physicians in our group have ever left to join other groups. I have also worked with the same nurse (Bernadette) since I moved to Atlanta in 1997. For many families, more practical matters about our office include the following: – 14 office/satellite locations – physicians who speak Spanish – cutting edge research – on-site nutritionists – on-site psychology support for abdominal pain and feeding disorders – participation in ImproveCareNow to better the outcomes for children with inflammatory bowel disease – office endoscopy suite (lower costs and easier scheduling) – office infusion center (lower costs and easier for families) – easy access to nursing advice (each physician has at least one nurse) I am married and have two sons (both adults). I like to read, walk/hike, bike, swim, and play tennis with my free time. I do not have any financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies or other financial relationships to disclose. I have helped enroll patients in industry-sponsored research studies.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (part 2)

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A terrific 12 page review of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS): AC Ford, BE Lacy, NJ Talley. NEJM 2017; 376: 2566-78. While yesterday’s post reviewed some of the updated diagnostic and pathophysiology information, today’s will focus on treatment.

The article’s Table 2 outlines the most frequent treatments, their efficacy, side effects, costs, and quality of evidence. I’ve tried to highlight the key points from table and discussion:

  1. Soluble fiber (eg. psyllium). Efficacy: effective -start at low doses. Quality of evidence: Moderate, Cost: $15-30 per month.
  2. Low-FODMAP diet. Efficacy: “May be effective, nutritionist guidance helpful.” While there have been studies showing this diet can be effective, two studies have shown that this diet is not significantly superior to conventional IBS diets (eg. “eating small, regular meals and avoiding insoluble fiber, fatty foods, and caffeine”).Quality of evidence: Very low.
  3. Gluten-free diet.  Efficacy: May be effective.  “No additive effect over that of a low-FODMAP diet in another small RCT.” Quality of evidence: Very low.
  4. Antispasmodic drugs (eg. dicyclomine).Efficacy: May be effective. Quality of evidence: Low, “No high-quality trials.” Cost: $50 per month.
  5. Peppermint oil. Efficacy: Effective, though few RCTs and no FDA-approved end points. Quality of evidence: Moderate. “No high-quality trials.”  Cost: $9-19 per month
  6. Lubiprostone. Efficacy: Effective, though “only a modest benefit over placebo, particularly for abdominal pain.” Quality of evidence: Moderate. Cost: ~$350 per month.
  7. Linaclotide.  Efficacy: Effective.. ” Quality of evidence: High. “No high-quality trials.”  Cost: ~$350 per month.
  8. Alosetron/5-HT3 receptor antagonists.  Efficacy: Effective. ” Quality of evidence: High. “No high-quality trials.”  Cost: ~$350-1100 per month. Alosetron may trigger ischemic colitis.
  9. Eluxadoline.  Efficacy: Effective, though “only a modest benefit over placebo for global symptoms and no benefit over placebo for abdominal pain.”  Quality of evidence: High. “No high-quality trials.”  Cost: ~$1100 per month. May trigger pancreatitis.
  10. Rifaximin. Efficacy: Effective. Quality of evidence: Moderate. “Modest benefit over placebo.”  “Relapse among patients who have a response is usual.” Cost: ~$1500 per month.
  11. Probiotics. Efficacy: May be effective.  Quality of evidence: Low. “Few high-quality trials and no FDA-approved end points.”  Cost: ~$20 per month.
  12. Tricyclic antidepressants. Efficacy: Effective. Quality of evidence: Moderate.  “Few high-quality trials and no FDA-approved end points.”   “A meta-analysis showed that tricyclic antidepressants were more effective than placebo in 11 randomized trials involving a total of 744 patients.” Cost: ~$5-10 per month.
  13. Psychological treatments. Efficacy: Effective. Quality of evidence: Low.  “Few high-quality trials and no FDA-approved end points.” “Their efficacy may be overestimated because of the lack of blinding.” There is also difficulty for many patients in finding an appropriate provider.  Cost: ??
  14. Placebo. In treatment trials, a placebo response is noted in 30-40%.
  15. Complementary/Alternative Therapies.  “Herbal therapies remain unclear.  STW5 (Iberogast) has been tested and “showed superiority over placebo.” Melatonin “has been reported to reduce abdominal pain in patients with IBS.”

The authors recommend judicious testing  “Any reassurance derived from colonoscopy to rule out organic disease in patients with IBS is short-lived.”

The authors outline their typical approach.  “Reassurance, explanation, and a positive diagnosis are essential steps in management. We recommend starting with dietary modification (slowly increasing soluble fiber if the patient has IBS with constipation or instituting a low-FODMAP diet temporarily  if the patient has IBS with diarrhea or the mixed subtype of IBS). We also recommend increased exercise and stress reduction.  A probiotic may be added, especially if bloating is prominent.  Pain may be ameliorated with an antispasmodic agent or a tricyclic antidepressant, diarrhea with loperamide or a bile acid sequestrant (eg. colestipol) and constipation with polyethylene glycol.” The other therapies may be used in those with persistent IBS symptoms.

My take: When a disease has this many treatments, usually this means that none of the treatments are all that great.

Related blog posts:

Chattahoochee River

Disclaimer: These blog posts are for educational purposes only. Specific dosing of medications (along with potential adverse effects) should be confirmed by prescribing physician.  This content is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment provided by a qualified healthcare provider. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a condition.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome 2017 (part 1)

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A terrific 12 page review of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS): AC Ford, BE Lacy, NJ Talley. NEJM 2017; 376: 2566-78.

Diagnosis of Irritable Bowel:

Testing: National guidelines recommend that for a patient who meets Rome IV criteria, “the physician should make a positive diagnosis of IBS without resorting to a battery of tests.” Nevertheless, many physicians obtain some workup.  If a workup is undertaken, the authors state “consider limited testing (CBC, CRP level, celiac serological test, fecal calprotectin level)”

Rome IV criteria of IBS are reviewed in Table 1 and includes warning signs.  Summary of Rome IV critieria from emedicine website on Irritable Bowel Syndrome: The Rome IV criteria for the diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome require that patients have had recurrent abdominal pain on average at least 1 day per week during the previous 3 months that is associated with 2 or more of the following [2]:

  • Related to defecation (may be increased or unchanged by defecation)
  • Associated with a change in stool frequency
  • Associated with a change in stool form or appearance

The Rome IV criteria (May 2016) only require abdominal pain in defining this condition; “discomfort” is no longer a requirement owing to its nonspecificity, and the recurrent abdominal pain. 

Supporting symptoms include the following:

  • Altered stool frequency
  • Altered stool form
  • Altered stool passage (straining and/or urgency)
  • Mucorrhea
  • Abdominal bloating or subjective distention

Four bowel patterns may be seen with irritable bowel syndrome, and these remain in the Rome IV classification. These patterns include the following:

  • IBS-D (diarrhea predominant)
  • IBS-C (constipation predominant)
  • IBS-M (mixed diarrhea and constipation)
  • IBS-U (unclassified; the symptoms cannot be categorized into one of the above three subtypes)

Symptoms not consistent with irritable bowel syndrome should alert the clinician to the possibility of an organic pathology. Inconsistent symptoms include the following:

  • Onset in middle age or older
  • Acute symptoms (irritable bowel syndrome is defined by chronicity)
  • Progressive symptoms
  • Nocturnal symptoms
  • Anorexia or weight loss
  • Fever
  • Rectal bleeding
  • Painless diarrhea
  • Steatorrhea
  • Gluten intolerance

The authors provide a diagnostic algorithm which is straight-forward.  The caption includes “tenderness is not increased by tensing abdominal wall muscles.”  The inclusion of Carnett’s sign is a useful reminder to consider/exclude muscle wall etiologies.

Another important point is that bile-acid diarrhea occurs in a significant fraction of adults with the diarrhea subtype of IBS, more than 25% of cases in a meta-analysis; thus, a therapeutic trial of a bile acid sequestrant may be useful.

Pathophysiology:

There are likely multiple pathways leading to IBS. In fact, Figure 2 lays out a Brain-Gut pathway as well as a Gut-Brain pathway. In the former, genetic predisposition and environmental factors/CNS alterations, could make one more susceptible to IBS after localized GI inflammation.  In the later, changes in the GI tract induced by infection, inflammation, food antigens, and medications which could alter intestinal permeability and/or microbiome could result in changes in CNS function (eg. new-onset anxiety, depression or somatization).  It is well-recognized that after gastrointestinal infections (bacterial, protozoal, viral), “IBS-type symptoms persist in 10 to 20% of infected patients.”

Image from NEJM twitter feed. It is noted that not all pathophysiological processes shown occur in all patients with IBS or in all IBS subtypes.

 

 

Diet, Meat, and Colorectal Cancer

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A recent study (RS Mehta et al. Gastroenterol 2017; 152: 1944 & summarized in editorial, 1821-23) examined the effects of a “Western” diet and a “prudent” diet on the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). Data was derived from two large prospective cohorts involving more than 137,000 participants for up to 32 years; this equated to 3.6 million person-years of follow-up.

Key findings:

  • Those in the highest quartile of a Western dietary pattern had a 31% increased CRC risk (RR=1.31) compared to those in the lowest quartile. In this context, a Western diet was characterized by consumption of red and processed meats, high-fat dairy products (such as whole milk), refined grains, and desserts.
  • The prudent diet cohort, had a 14% reduced risk for those in the highest quartile compared to the lowest quartile. The ‘prudent’ diet included high intakes of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and fish.

Based on this study and others, the editorial notes the following:

  • Limit red and processed meat consumption to 0.5 servings or 42 g/day of lean red meat
  • A more ‘prudent’ diet has health benefits beyond reduction of CRC, including lower cardiovascular disease mortality

Related blog post: Colon Cancer at Younger Ages

Piedmont Park, Atlanta

Recent Study Did NOT Find Dementia Risk with PPIs

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When performing retrospective studies, many times a potential association can be found with medications or diet and specific problems.  When these risks/associations are low (i.e. relative risks <2), often, these findings do not hold up, particularly with prospective studies which are much more able to control for confounding variables.

For proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), many potential complications have been suggested at  low relative risk findings in poorly-controlled studies.  A recent study has contradicted previous findings suggesting that PPIs increase the risk of dementia.

Goldstein FC, et al. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2017;doi:10.1111/jgs.14956. (Thanks to Ben Gold for this reference)

A link and an excerpt from a summary of this study from Healio Gastroenterology:

Link: Study finds no link between PPIs, dementia, Alzheimer’s risk

Excerpt:

They evaluated 10,486 volunteers within the NIH-supported Alzheimer’s Disease Centers who were aged 50 years and older and had either normal cognition or mild cognitive impairment at baseline. Participants underwent neuropsychological evaluations and self-reported PPI use at two to six annual visits between 2005 and 2015.

Overall, 884 reported they were taking PPIs at every visit, 1,925 reported they took PPIs intermittently, and 7,677 never reported taking PPIs.

Those who reported continuous PPI use showed a lower risk for cognitive function decline compared with those who never reported using PPIs (HR = 0.78; 95% CI, 0.66-0.93) as well as a lower risk for developing mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease (HR = 0.82; 95% CI, 0.69-0.98).

Those who reported using PPIs intermittently also showed a lower risk for cognitive function decline (HR = 0.84; 95% CI, 0.76–0.93) and for developing mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease (HR = 0.82; 95% CI, 0.74–0.91).

My take: This study provides reassurance that PPIs are unlikely to result in cognitive decline. Particularly when a study suggests a low risk of an association, further studies are needed to clarify the true risks.

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Diarrhea Mortality Improving

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A  recent story from NPR indicates that globally diarrhea deaths are on the decline, ~30%, from 2005-2015.  In wealthy countries, there has been a mild increase, likely related to Clostridium difficile infection and the use of antibiotics.  The article cautions that data from some parts of the world are questionable due to upheaval.

Full Link: A Good News Story About Diarrhea -With One Surprising Exception

An excerpt:

An infection by E. coli, Cryptosporidium, Shigella or rotavirus, and the resulting diarrhea, is often a death sentence in much of the world. In 2005, about 1.6 million people died from diarrhea-related diseases, and roughly 770,000 of them were kids under 5. But that number has been steadily dropping, as a new study points out…

Published this month in The Lancet, the study shows diarrhea-related deaths have declined about 20 percent from 2005 to 2015 for all ages to 1.3 million people, and 35 percent for children under 5 to about 500,000 children during the same time period.

Long-term Effects on Bone Health of PPIs in Infancy?

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A recent study –summarized by Pediatric News (MDedge): Antacid use in infants linked to increased fracture risk.

In this large study (874,447 children), more than 90% of the cohort had not received a prescription for any antacid.

An excerpt:

The large study revealed that use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) before age 1 year was linked to a 22% increased risk of fracture, compared with those not prescribed antacids…

The retrospective study’s cohort comprised 874,447 children born between 2001 and 2013 who had been in the U.S. Military Health System for at least 2 years…

Adjustment for preterm birth, low birth weight, sex, and a previous fracture barely reduced those risks: 22% increased risk for PPI use, 4% increased risk for H2 blocker use, and 31% increased risk for using both. The vast majority of children who took antacids had been prescribed them in their first 6 months, so the researchers calculated adjusted risk by age of exposure. 

My take: There are a lot of reasons to resist using PPIs in most infants, particularly lack of efficacy.  Potential harms of these medications, particularly at the youngest ages, should not be overlooked either.

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NEJM: Senate Effort to Scale Back Health Care Coverage

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This is a concise summary on the potential effects of the U.S. Senate’s efforts to ‘repeal and replace’ Obamacare: from NEJM: Health, Wealth, and the U.S. Senate

Here’s an excerpt:

The Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), as the U.S. Senate calls the health care bill released by a small working group of Republican senators last week, is not designed to lead to better care for Americans. Like the House bill that was passed in early May, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), it would actually do the opposite: reduce the number of people with health insurance by about 22 million, raise insurance costs for millions more, and give states the option to allow insurers to omit coverage for many critical health care services so that patients with costly illnesses, preexisting or otherwise, would be substantially underinsured and saddled with choking out-of-pocket payments — all with predictably devastating effects on the health and lives of Americans. What would get “better” under the BCRA is the tax bill faced by wealthy individuals, which would be reduced by hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade — about $5,000 per year for families making over $200,000 per year and $50,000 or more for those making over $1 million, according to analysis of the AHCA, which included a similar set of tax provisions.1 We believe that that trade-off is not one to which we — physicians, patients, or American society — should be reconciled.

Related blog post: Five Reasons Why Medical Groups Oppose the Senate’s AHCA

St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague

 

Why the Liver is the King of Internal Organs

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A nice summary of how great our livers are by the NY Times: The Liver: A ‘Blob’ That Runs the Body

An excerpt:

After all, a healthy liver is the one organ in the adult body that, if chopped down to a fraction of its initial size, will rapidly regenerate and perform as if brand-new. Which is a lucky thing, for the liver’s to-do list is second only to that of the brain and numbers well over 300 items, including systematically reworking the food we eat into usable building blocks for our cells; neutralizing the many potentially harmful substances that we incidentally or deliberately ingest; generating a vast pharmacopoeia of hormones, enzymes, clotting factors and immune molecules; controlling blood chemistry; and really, we’re just getting started.

Antibiotics for Acute Uncomplicated Appendicitis in Children

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A recent meta-analysis study (L Huang et al. JAMA Pediatr 2017; 17: 426-34 -thanks to Ben Gold for this reference) indicates that antibiotcis can be effective as treatment for acute uncomplicated appendicitis, particularly if no appendolith is present.

From the abstract:

Abstract

IMPORTANCE:

Antibiotic therapy for acute uncomplicated appendicitis is effective in adult patients, but its application in pediatric patients remains controversial.

OBJECTIVE:

To compare the safety and efficacy of antibiotic treatment vs appendectomy as the primary therapy for acute uncomplicated appendicitis in pediatric patients.

STUDY SELECTION:

Randomized clinical trials and prospective clinical controlled trials comparing antibiotic therapy with appendectomy for acute uncomplicated appendicitis in pediatric patients (aged 5-18 years) were included in the meta-analysis. The outcomes included at least 2 of the following terms: success rate of antibiotic treatment and appendectomy, complications, readmissions, length of stay, total cost, and disability days.

RESULTS:

A total of 527 articles were screened. In 5 unique studies, 404 unique patients with uncomplicated appendicitis (aged 5-15 years) were enrolled. Nonoperative treatment was successful in 152 of 168 patients (90.5%), with a Mantel-Haenszel fixed-effects risk ratio of 8.92 (95% CI, 2.67-29.79; heterogeneity, P = .99; I2 = 0%). Subgroup analysis showed that the risk for treatment failure in patients with appendicolith increased, with a Mantel-Haenszel fixed-effects risk ratio of 10.43 (95% CI, 1.46-74.26; heterogeneity, P = .91; I2 = 0%).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE:

This meta-analysis shows that antibiotics as the initial treatment for pediatric patients with uncomplicated appendicitis may be feasible and effective without increasing the risk for complications. However, the failure rate, mainly caused by the presence of appendicolith, is higher than for appendectomy. Surgery is preferably suggested for uncomplicated appendicitis with appendicolith.

From a AHC Media synopsis of article:Although antibiotic treatment of acute appendicitis appears effective in many cases, there is a nearly nine-fold higher risk of treatment failure compared with appendectomy, with 26.8% of patients in the antibiotic treatment group requiring interval appendectomy.

My take: My opinion is that surgery is appropriate as first-line treatment for  acute uncomplicated appendicitis.

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