The Gastroenterology community of South Africa

Straight from the gut: Microbes can cause obesity

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:10:00 +0200

Obesity and chronic liver disease can be triggered by a family of proteins that alter populations of microbes in the stomach, a discovery that suggests the condition may be infectious, Yale scientists report. The study, in the advance online publication of Nature, expands on earlier Yale research that showed how similar microbial imbalances caused by the same family of proteins increases the risk of intestinal diseases such as colitis.
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Bedwetting can be due to undiagnosed constipation, research shows

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:47:00 +0200

Winston-Salem, NC, USA: Bedwetting isn't always due to problems with the bladder, according to new research by Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Constipation is often the culprit; and if it isn't diagnosed, children and their parents must endure an unnecessarily long, costly and difficult quest to cure nighttime wetting.
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Vomiting virus found in majority of British oysters: study

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:04:00 +0200

LONDON, UK: Three-quarters of British-grown oysters contain norovirus, a bug which causes diarrhoea and vomiting, according to new research published on Tuesday by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
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Results of medication studies in top medical journals may be misleading to readers

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 09:19:00 +0200

A UCLA-Harvard study has highlighted three types of confusing outcome measures. Studies about medications published in the most influential medical journals are frequently designed in a way that yields misleading or confusing results, new research suggests.
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Too much kougoed not so good, says SU researcher

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 09:06:00 +0200

If you want to chew the indigenous plant kougoed to calm you or make you feel less depressed, do so in moderation - don't indulge yourself indiscriminately.
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New trial tests surgery for Type 2 diabetes

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 12:46:00 +0200

Study compares gastric bypass to conventional medical treatments and lifestyle modifications in mildly obese and non-obese patients.
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Trained dog sniffs out colon cancer with 98% accuracy

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 07:21:00 +0200

A new study showed that a Labrador retriever that was trained to sniff out cancer was able to detect colon cancer nearly as accurately as a colonoscopy.
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Common disinfectant degrades water-borne viruses

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 10:39:00 +0200

A simple technique to make a common virus-killing material significantly more effective is a breakthrough from the Rice University labs of Andrew Barron and Qilin Li. Rather than trying to turn the process into profit, the researchers have put it into the public domain. They hope wide adoption will save time, money and perhaps even lives.
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Tips for surviving a bout of 'stomach flu'

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 11:09:00 +0200

Stomach flu is one of those ailments that tends to strike from time to time - and it sees a crush of patients crowding into area physician offices and hospital emergency rooms as individuals of all ages suddenly find themselves laid low by a highly contagious and quick-striking virus.
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Food poisoning - it's so unpredictable

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 09:16:00 +0200

While we are often exposed to bacteria in our food which could cause food poisoning, we don't always become ill - why should this be so?
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