Bariatric Endoscopy

In a Healio video exclusive, Allison R. Schulman, MD, MPH, FASGE, winner of the 2022 Woman Disruptor of the Year Award, discusses her passion for advanced endoscopy and encourages other women to pursue a career in the specialty.

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass was associated with an increased risk for alcohol-use disorder-related hospitalization compared with sleeve gastrectomy and a weight management program, according to research published in JAMA Surgery.

Healio presents the following collection of FDA news related to gastroenterology, including the approval of generic diarrhea relief tablets, treatment for acid sphingomyelinase deficiency and biliary tract cancer, and more.

Endoluminal therapy for weight loss delivered by flexible endoscopy has had appeal for nearly 20 years. The continued growth in the global prevalence of obesity makes the need for new and better treatment options more critical than ever.

The obesity epidemic is one of today’s most blatantly visible — yet actively neglected — public health concerns, affecting more than 1 billion people globally, according to WHO.

The FDA has granted de novo authorization for Apollo Endosurgery to market its Apollo ESG and Apollo REVISE endoscopic systems for the treatment of patients with obesity, according to a company press release.

The CDC estimates that nearly half of the adult population in the United States has obesity. Despite its prevalence and potential impact on health, interventions for obesity are difficult to access due to stigma, very few providers specializing in this care and their expense.

In a Healio interview, Douglas K. Rex, MD, president of ASGE and distinguished professor emeritus of medicine at Indiana University, details upcoming ASGE sessions that attendees should include on their agendas at Digestive Disease Week.