What you should know
Almost everyone has occasional constipation, gas or abdominal cramping.
Your diet is extremely important in reducing abdominal discomfort and improving regularity. Dietary fiber -- sometimes called roughage -- is crucial in regulating your digestive tract.
Foods from plants are a primary source of dietary fiber. A daily variety of plant foods -- cereals and grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts -- can help to prevent future gastrointestinal problems in most people.
There are two basic forms of fiber: soluble (dissolves in water) and insoluble (moves through your gastrointestinal tract without dissolving in water). Both types of fiber are important to maintain your health.
Soluble fiber is good for lowering cholesterol and blood sugar (glucose levels). Soluble fiber picks up water and changes into a gel-like substance as it goes through your digestive tract. Examples of soluble fiber foods are beans, peas and lentils (legumes), oatmeal, broccoli, root vegetables (like carrots and potatoes) and many fruits -- bananas, pears, apples, prunes, plums and many berries.
Insoluble fiber is indigestible. It generally passes through your body unchanged. Insoluble fiber foods help to prevent constipation, hemorrhoids, diverticulitis and irritable bowel syndrome. They can regularly push solids and liquids through your digestive system. Good sources of insoluble fiber foods include wheat bran, whole-wheat foods, nuts and seeds, and some vegetables, such as celery, green beans and zucchini, and the skin of some fruits and vegetables.
High-fiber foods may help people lose weight. People who eat high-fiber diets seem less likely to overeat. These foods often make you feel full longer. They may require more chewing. They frequently provide fewer calories per serving than many meats or high-fat foods such as chocolate cake or ice cream.
Food preferences start in early childhood. Bowel problems frequently start in childhood, and often stem from a lack of dietary fiber that leads to chronic constipation.
Most people take in only 12-18 grams of fiber each day. Many experts feel that the lack of dietary fiber intake is contributing to our obesity epidemic. Experts suggest that most adults eat 20-35 grams of dietary fiber per day.
What you should do
Eat breakfast. Check labels to see which breakfast foods are high in fiber, such as cold cereals or hot oatmeal. Breakfast can also stimulate your metabolism and your digestive system so that regularity is maintained.
Drink water regularly. Water works with fiber to improve bowel habits and to reduce cholesterol and blood sugar.
Don't add too much fiber too quickly to your diet. A large sudden increase in fiber can cause gas and discomfort.
If your family resists the idea of more fiber, hide bran, nuts and seeds in the foods that you prepare. Good places to add fiber are muffins, meatloaf, casseroles, and even cookies and salads. Buy breads with extra fiber.
Aim for 38 grams of fiber or more if you are a man and 25 grams or more if you are a woman age 50 or younger.
Promote wholesome snacks that provide extra fiber in your household. Examples include baby carrots, celery sticks with hummus, or apples coated with peanut butter. Dried fruit and whole-grain crackers are also good choices.
Buy whole-grain products when possible. Whole-grain foods are a healthier choice than white flour for most people.
Don't add only one type of fiber to your diet. Be sure to include a variety of high-fiber foods in your daily diet.
Fiber supplements can help with occasional problems, but they should not be the only source of fiber in your diet.
Experiment with new recipes to add fiber to traditional foods. For example, add black beans to your nachos or add nuts, fruits or beans to a green salad.
Read labels to be sure you are buying something that is high in fiber, but is also low in fat, salt and sugar.
Help form your children's preferences for high-fiber foods by ensuring that they are part of their diets early on.
If you have had chronic constipation, check with your doctor first to see how much fiber should be in your diet. You may need to increase fiber intake gradually to achieve normal bowel movements.
This article is a reprint of http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/aug/17/dietary-fiber-will-help-protect-your-digestive/ The time or date displayed reflects when an article was added to Google News. Aug 16, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Colonoscopy in the a.m. may have best pre-cancer detection rate
Colonoscopy performed in the morning is more likely to detect pre-cancerous polyps than the same test done in the afternoon according to a study published in the July issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology .
Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic analyzed results from over 3600 colonoscopies and found that not only were a higher percentage of polyps detected in these patients screened in the morning, but the detection rates dropped off as the day wore on. The authors speculated that fatigue of the GI doctors performing the procedure may have played a role in these results, but stated that the findings should be studied further.
In an accompanying editorial, Joseph Vicari, MD pointed out that the morning group of patients had a higher number of men who are more likely to have polyps than women. In addition, the morning group tended to be older and more of them had a history of polyps than the afternoon group, which could also have skewed the data. Nevertheless, he felt that if the findings could be validated in a prospective study, there might be a need to consider scheduling fewer colonoscopies in the afternoon to improve polyp detection rates.
Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer and the third leading cause of cancer death in the US. In 2008, about 149,000 Americans were diagnosed with the disease, and 50,000 died of it. Experts believe that adequate screening could have prevented perhaps 60 percent of those deaths.
The United States Preventive Services Task Force now recommends screening colonoscopy every ten years starting at the age of 50. If there is a family history of colon cancer or some other increased risk factor such as ulcerative colitis, screening should be done before age 50. Discuss how often is appropriate for you with your primary care physician.
This article is a reprint of http://www.examiner.com/x-9303-Miami-Health-Care-Examiner~y2009m8d16-Colonoscopy-in-the-am-may-have-best-precancer-detection-rate The time or date displayed reflects when an article was added to Google News. Au1 16 , 2009
Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic analyzed results from over 3600 colonoscopies and found that not only were a higher percentage of polyps detected in these patients screened in the morning, but the detection rates dropped off as the day wore on. The authors speculated that fatigue of the GI doctors performing the procedure may have played a role in these results, but stated that the findings should be studied further.
In an accompanying editorial, Joseph Vicari, MD pointed out that the morning group of patients had a higher number of men who are more likely to have polyps than women. In addition, the morning group tended to be older and more of them had a history of polyps than the afternoon group, which could also have skewed the data. Nevertheless, he felt that if the findings could be validated in a prospective study, there might be a need to consider scheduling fewer colonoscopies in the afternoon to improve polyp detection rates.
Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer and the third leading cause of cancer death in the US. In 2008, about 149,000 Americans were diagnosed with the disease, and 50,000 died of it. Experts believe that adequate screening could have prevented perhaps 60 percent of those deaths.
The United States Preventive Services Task Force now recommends screening colonoscopy every ten years starting at the age of 50. If there is a family history of colon cancer or some other increased risk factor such as ulcerative colitis, screening should be done before age 50. Discuss how often is appropriate for you with your primary care physician.
This article is a reprint of http://www.examiner.com/x-9303-Miami-Health-Care-Examiner~y2009m8d16-Colonoscopy-in-the-am-may-have-best-precancer-detection-rate The time or date displayed reflects when an article was added to Google News. Au1 16 , 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Colon: IBD diagnoses rise by 50% in kids
Study findings add new urgency to understanding the root causes of IBD
The number of Ontario children diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease shot up 50 per cent in a decade, according to a new study.
The findings, published in today's issue of the medical journal Gut, add new urgency to understanding the root causes of IBD, a sometimes debilitating life-long condition for which Canada already has the highest rates in the world.
Eric Benchimol, a pediatric gastroenterologist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and the principal investigator, said the study was designed to get a handle on how many children are being diagnosed with Crohn's disease and colitis, ulcerative colitis (the two main forms of IBD), but the question everyone wants answered is why the numbers are on the rise.
He said there are three likely reasons for the increase:
A change in immigration patterns that has resulted in an influx of immigrants from South Asian countries such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India, who seem prone to IBD when they move to Western countries;
More awareness about the condition - particularly among physicians - resulting in more prompt diagnosis. The diagnostic tools have also improved;
Environmental changes that are somehow causing changes to the immune system, similar to what is occurring with the rise of allergies and asthma.
"It's an immune-system-mediated disease caused by a combination of genetics and environment," Dr. Benchimol said. "We also know that Western lifestyle plays a key role."
The gut is colonized by trillions of bacteria, viruses and fungi living in complex harmony and it is believed that Crohn's and colitis can be triggered when the balance is upset.
There are more than 200,000 Canadians living with inflammatory disease (about 10 per cent of them children), according to a report published last year by the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada.
That number includes about 112,000 people with Crohn's and 88,500 with ulcerative colitis. The latter is an inflammation of the large bowel, while the former describes an inflammation anywhere in the bowel, from the rectum up to the esophagus.
While Crohn's and ulcerative colitis are principally illnesses diagnosed in early adulthood, the new study notes that they are increasingly being seen in children.
The study in Gut found the prevalence of IBD in those under the age of 18 increased to 56.3 per 100,000 in 2005 from 42.1 per 100,000 children in 1994 and that it is no longer uncommon for children under the age of 10 to be diagnosed.
George Tolomiczenko, executive director of research at the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada, said the new numbers are troubling because IBD requires life-long treatment.
"We're still looking for a cure so, for now, all we can do is treat the symptoms," he said.
Dr. Tolomiczenko said IBD sufferers tend to be asymptomatic most of the time, but they get hit by flare-ups. Both the suppression of symptoms and treating flare-ups requires medication, ranging from steroids to TNF (tumour necrosis factor) blockers, and they have sometimes serious side effects. Earlier this week, for example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned that TNF blockers, used to treat serious inflammation, can cause cancer in children.
About 70 per cent of IBD sufferers also have surgery to remove fistulas or a part of their bowel.
Aside from the physical symptoms, IBD is a condition that carries a lot of social stigma because of issues surrounding ready access to toilets and difficulty with physical intimacy because of bowel problems.
Symptoms of IBD including a swollen gut, abdominal pain, bloody stools and frequent diarrhea. In children, it is marked by a perpetually sore tummy and prolonged bouts of diarrhea.
The economic cost of IBD exceeds $1.8-billion a year, including $700-million in direct medical costs, according to the foundation report.
ANDRÉ PICARD
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
This article is a reprint ofhttp: //www.theglobeandmail.com/life/ibd-diagnoses-rise-by-50-in-kids/article1242911 The time or date displayed reflects when an article was added to Google News. Aug 6, 2009
The number of Ontario children diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease shot up 50 per cent in a decade, according to a new study.
The findings, published in today's issue of the medical journal Gut, add new urgency to understanding the root causes of IBD, a sometimes debilitating life-long condition for which Canada already has the highest rates in the world.
Eric Benchimol, a pediatric gastroenterologist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and the principal investigator, said the study was designed to get a handle on how many children are being diagnosed with Crohn's disease and colitis, ulcerative colitis (the two main forms of IBD), but the question everyone wants answered is why the numbers are on the rise.
He said there are three likely reasons for the increase:
A change in immigration patterns that has resulted in an influx of immigrants from South Asian countries such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India, who seem prone to IBD when they move to Western countries;
More awareness about the condition - particularly among physicians - resulting in more prompt diagnosis. The diagnostic tools have also improved;
Environmental changes that are somehow causing changes to the immune system, similar to what is occurring with the rise of allergies and asthma.
"It's an immune-system-mediated disease caused by a combination of genetics and environment," Dr. Benchimol said. "We also know that Western lifestyle plays a key role."
The gut is colonized by trillions of bacteria, viruses and fungi living in complex harmony and it is believed that Crohn's and colitis can be triggered when the balance is upset.
There are more than 200,000 Canadians living with inflammatory disease (about 10 per cent of them children), according to a report published last year by the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada.
That number includes about 112,000 people with Crohn's and 88,500 with ulcerative colitis. The latter is an inflammation of the large bowel, while the former describes an inflammation anywhere in the bowel, from the rectum up to the esophagus.
While Crohn's and ulcerative colitis are principally illnesses diagnosed in early adulthood, the new study notes that they are increasingly being seen in children.
The study in Gut found the prevalence of IBD in those under the age of 18 increased to 56.3 per 100,000 in 2005 from 42.1 per 100,000 children in 1994 and that it is no longer uncommon for children under the age of 10 to be diagnosed.
George Tolomiczenko, executive director of research at the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada, said the new numbers are troubling because IBD requires life-long treatment.
"We're still looking for a cure so, for now, all we can do is treat the symptoms," he said.
Dr. Tolomiczenko said IBD sufferers tend to be asymptomatic most of the time, but they get hit by flare-ups. Both the suppression of symptoms and treating flare-ups requires medication, ranging from steroids to TNF (tumour necrosis factor) blockers, and they have sometimes serious side effects. Earlier this week, for example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned that TNF blockers, used to treat serious inflammation, can cause cancer in children.
About 70 per cent of IBD sufferers also have surgery to remove fistulas or a part of their bowel.
Aside from the physical symptoms, IBD is a condition that carries a lot of social stigma because of issues surrounding ready access to toilets and difficulty with physical intimacy because of bowel problems.
Symptoms of IBD including a swollen gut, abdominal pain, bloody stools and frequent diarrhea. In children, it is marked by a perpetually sore tummy and prolonged bouts of diarrhea.
The economic cost of IBD exceeds $1.8-billion a year, including $700-million in direct medical costs, according to the foundation report.
ANDRÉ PICARD
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
This article is a reprint ofhttp: //www.theglobeandmail.com/life/ibd-diagnoses-rise-by-50-in-kids/article1242911 The time or date displayed reflects when an article was added to Google News. Aug 6, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Toward An Explanation For Crohn's Disease?
Twenty-five per cent of Crohn's disease patients have a mutation in what is called the NOD2 gene, but it is not precisely known how this mutation influences the disease. The latest study by Dr. Marcel Behr, of the Research Institute of the MUHC and McGill University, has provided new insight into how this might occur.
When the NOD2 gene functions normally, it codes for a receptor that will recognize invading bacteria and then trigger the immune response. This study demonstrates that the NOD2 receptor preferentially recognizes a peptide called N-glycolyl-MDP, which is only found in a specific family of bacteria called mycobacteria. When mycobacteria invade the human body, they cause an immediate and very strong immune response via the NOD2 receptor.
"Now that we have a better understanding of the normal role of NOD2, we think that a mutation in this gene prevents mycobacteria from being properly recognized by the immune system," explained Dr. Behr. "If mycobacteria are not recognized, the body cannot effectively fight them off and then becomes persistently infected."
Researchers were already aware of the relationship between mycobacteria and Crohn's disease, but they did not know whether the presence of bacteria was a cause or a consequence of the disease. This new discovery associates the predisposition for Crohn's disease with both the NOD2 mutation and the presence of mycobacteria, but researchers must still determine the precise combination of these factors to understand how the disease develops.
More research is required to establish a complete explanation. From this, it is expected that new therapeutic approaches that fight the cause of Crohn's disease may be developed.
This study was funded by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). The salaries of some researchers were provided by the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec.
This article was co-authored by François Coulombe, Maziar Divanghi, Frédéric Veyrier, Louis de Léséleuc, Dr. Michael B. Reed and Dr Marcel Behr from the Research Institute of the MUHC; James L. Gleason of McGill University; and Yibin Yang, Michelle A. Kelliher, Amit K. Pandey, and Christopher M. Sassetti of the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
This article is a reprint of http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709095429.htm/ The time or date displayed reflects when an article was added to Google News. Jul 20, 2009
When the NOD2 gene functions normally, it codes for a receptor that will recognize invading bacteria and then trigger the immune response. This study demonstrates that the NOD2 receptor preferentially recognizes a peptide called N-glycolyl-MDP, which is only found in a specific family of bacteria called mycobacteria. When mycobacteria invade the human body, they cause an immediate and very strong immune response via the NOD2 receptor.
"Now that we have a better understanding of the normal role of NOD2, we think that a mutation in this gene prevents mycobacteria from being properly recognized by the immune system," explained Dr. Behr. "If mycobacteria are not recognized, the body cannot effectively fight them off and then becomes persistently infected."
Researchers were already aware of the relationship between mycobacteria and Crohn's disease, but they did not know whether the presence of bacteria was a cause or a consequence of the disease. This new discovery associates the predisposition for Crohn's disease with both the NOD2 mutation and the presence of mycobacteria, but researchers must still determine the precise combination of these factors to understand how the disease develops.
More research is required to establish a complete explanation. From this, it is expected that new therapeutic approaches that fight the cause of Crohn's disease may be developed.
This study was funded by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). The salaries of some researchers were provided by the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec.
This article was co-authored by François Coulombe, Maziar Divanghi, Frédéric Veyrier, Louis de Léséleuc, Dr. Michael B. Reed and Dr Marcel Behr from the Research Institute of the MUHC; James L. Gleason of McGill University; and Yibin Yang, Michelle A. Kelliher, Amit K. Pandey, and Christopher M. Sassetti of the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
This article is a reprint of http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709095429.htm/ The time or date displayed reflects when an article was added to Google News. Jul 20, 2009
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