Welcome to GutsandGrowth! My Background

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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.  I have authored numerous publications/presentations including original research, case reports, review articles, and textbook chapters on various pediatric gastrointestinal problems.

Currently, I am the 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 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, 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 15 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. For many families, more practical matters 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
– 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. I like to read, walk/hike, exercise, swim, and play tennis with my free time as well as go to baseball games.

I do not have any relationships with pharmaceutical companies or other financial relationships to disclose.

Eosinophilic Esophagitis -Six Food Group Diet

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One of the topics that continues to have a number of important articles each month is eosinophilic esophagitis. One of the most important recent articles is the following:
**Kagalwalla AF, et al. JPGN 2011;53: 145–149. Identification of Specific Foods Responsible for Inflammation in Children With Eosinophilic Esophagitis Successfully Treated With Empiric Elimination Diet.

Results: A total of 36/46 (25 M/11F) children who were initially successfully treated with SFED completed this trial; the mean age was 7.6 years. The most common foods identified were 25 to cow’s milk (74%), 8 to wheat (26%), 4 to eggs (17%), 3 to soy (10%), and 1 to peanut (6%). Milk was 8 times more likely to cause EoE compared with wheat, the next most common food (95% confidence interval 2.41–26.62, P1⁄4 0.0007).

Previous articles in this area include the following:
–Immunol Allergy Clin N Am; 2009; 29: 77-84. Review article.
–Clinical Gastroenterology & Hepatology 2006; 4: 1097.
–Clinical Gastroenterology & Hepatology 2006; 3: 1198.

These studies identify the divergent approaches to dietary treatment in patients with eosinophilic esophagitis. Some patients can be managed with elimination diet based on allergy testing. However, due to the difficulty of allergy testing and its potential flaws in this population, some patients need to resort to a so-called six-food group elimination diet (Milk, wheat, eggs, nuts, shellfish, and soy) and some even need a complete elemental diet. Almost all patients managed with dietary restriction require followup endoscopy to determine the effectiveness of this dietary approach. In subsequent posts, some of the references regarding medical treatments (eg. budesonide) and biomarkers will be reviewed.