Highlights from Digestive Disease Week 2021
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In honor of World Digestive Health Day, Healio Gastroenterology presents the following report on the latest top stories from Digestive Disease Week.
These stories include diet-based intervention for irritable bowel syndrome management, metabolic benefits that followed weight loss, the link between alcohol use disorder and mortality in inflammatory bowel disease and more.
App-based diet intervention superior in managing IBS
A FODMAP-lowering diet administered through smartphone application was superior to standard medical therapy alone in improved symptom severity among patients with irritable bowel syndrome, according to a presentation at Digestive Disease Week.
“In primary care, IBS is a condition that generates high diagnostic and therapeutic uncertainty for general practitioners and the efficacy of currently available therapeutic modalities is limited. In Europe, musculotropic agents (otilonium bromide [OB]) are commonly used,” Karen Van Den Hout, PhD, Translational Research in Gastrointestinal Disorders, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, and colleagues wrote. “Recently, at the level of specialist care, the low FODMAP diet, supervised by an experienced dietician, was shown to provide significant improvement but the use in primary care remains to be explored.” READ MORE.
Weight loss via diet or gastric bypass yield similar metabolic benefits
Insulin sensitivity and beta cell function improved among patients with type 2 diabetes after 18% body weight loss by diet or gastric bypass, according to a study presented at Digestive Disease Week.
“Significant weight loss, whether secondary to medical therapy or surgical therapy, has profound benefits in reducing diabetes. Bariatric surgery has consistently been shown to have a greater impact on type 2 diabetes,” Christopher Eagon, MD, Washington University School of Medicine, said. “In randomized and nonrandomized studies within different types of bariatric surgery, there are differences in the rate of diabetes remission differences after the surgery. ... Among type 2 diabetes patients, the extent to which the insulin axis of metabolic function may be affected by weight loss dependent vs. weight loss independent factors is unclear.” READ MORE.
Alcohol use disorder links to higher mortality in IBD
Alcohol use disorder correlated with a higher risk for in-hospital mortality among patients with inflammatory bowel disease, according to a presentation at Digestive Disease Week.
“It is reported that 54% of patients with Crohn's disease and 61% of patients with ulcerative colitis identify themselves as active drinkers. Among these IBD patients who are actively drinking, approximately half of them report moderate, heavy or binge drinking,” Mohamed Tausif Siddiqui, MD, Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues wrote. “Despite this, there is very limited literature studying the outcomes of alcohol use in patients with IBD and the large hospitalization record databases have never been explored to study this association.” READ MORE.
Cognitive behavior therapy reduces mood symptoms in patients with functional GI disorders
Implementation of a digital cognitive behavioral therapy tool during the COVID-19 pandemic reduced mood symptoms among patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders who also have anxiety or depression.
“Patients with functional GI disorders (FGID) exhibit increased sensitivity to stressors, which can lead to anxiety and depression. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is known to help improve mood, increase stress resiliency and reduce FGID symptom severity,” Aylin Tansel, MD, MPH, University, of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said. “Unfortunately, there are substantial barriers to implementation; integrating behavioral health technology into the medical clinic workflows could potentially overcome these barriers. We face the additional challenge of a global pandemic that diverted many healthcare resources, disrupted outpatient care delivery and had a significant impact on everyone, including our patients with FGID.” READ MORE.
Young IBD patients fail to develop neutralizing antibodies for SARS-CoV-2
Among young patients with inflammatory bowel disease, most of whom were positive for SARS-CoV-2, had a non-neutralizing antibody, according to data presented at Digestive Disease Week.
“Rapid decline in antibody levels following SARS-CoV-2 infection in our IBD patients treated with biologics suggests greater risk for reinfection, especially for variants that can escape the antibodies,” Joelynn Dailey, DO, from Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Hartford, said during her presentation. READ MORE.
VIDEO: Stelara, Entyvio in elderly patients with Crohn’s disease
In an exclusive video with Healio Gastroenterology, Benjamin Click, MD, Cleveland Clinic, spoke about the safety and efficacy of Stelara and Entyvio in elderly patients with Crohn’s disease. READ MORE.
Higher consumption of ultra-processed foods increases risk of Crohn’s
Rising rates of ultra-processed food consumption correlated with an increased risk for Crohn’s disease, according to a presentation at Digestive Disease Week.
“The pathophysiology of IBD is related to an inappropriate host-immune response to commensal bacteria in genetically susceptible individuals. Environmental factors, especially diet, play an important role on the development of IBD,” Chun-Han Lo, MD, MPH, Massachusetts General Hospital, said. “Compared with the Mediterranean diet, the Western diet is widely thought to increase the risk of IBD, potentially through changes in the gut microbiome and epithelial barrier function and seem to have direct influence on immune function.” READ MORE.
Check out all the latest stories from Digestive Disease Week here.