Although we live in an era of global collaboration, there are a number of circumstances in which gastroenterology practice in the UK is at odds with our European and Australian counterparts. For most UK gastroenterologists, for example, performing and interpreting ultrasound (US) in the outpatient clinic would be out of our comfort zone. Two recent […]
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#FGBlog: A call to arms for a greener NHS
Doing the bins on a Sunday night is my least favourite part of the week. Not only does it signify the end of the weekend, it provides an unwelcome opportunity to reflect on what the household has consumed over the last 7 days. The post-on call Nando’s*, the midnight chocolate bar between turns of trying […]
#FGBlog: Telephone clinics in gastroenterology: here to stay?
Making changes within the NHS can feel complex and lumbering. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated change, with specialist units needing to demonstrate agility and innovation in ensuring patient access to services. Whilst doctors and patients alike may have found the pace of change hard to navigate, it is important to take stock and evaluate whether […]
#FG Blog: Entering the black hole – dietary recommendations in IBD
‘One last thing doc, I’ve been reading online about the Paleo diet and that it’s been beneficial to other patients with colitis, what do you think?’ We have all been here. Most of us feel that we really should have the answer to questions regarding diet and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) but what advice […]
How do you solve a problem like obesity?
There has been some debate in recent months in the liver community about the nomenclature of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Understandably, there is some concern that the name is confusing, focussed on what it is not rather than what it is. ‘Metabolic Associated Liver Disease’ (MAFLD) has been proposed as an alternative, but the […]
Are we actually providing a MDT approach to our IBD patients?
Jessica Anne Eccles1,2, Anna Ascott3, Rona McGeer4,5, Emma Hills6, Anja St.Clair Jones6, Lisa A Page7, Melissa A Smith6, Alana Loewenberger8, Jemima Gregory7 On so many occasions throughout my career I’ve reviewed a patient with inflammatory bowel disease where no matter what next “mab” I throw at them, no matter how much of their […]
Improving our end-of-life care in patients with advanced liver disease
How would you define a good death? The words ‘good’ and ‘death’ appear oxymorons; defining any death as ‘good’ may on the surface appear perverse. Yet all of us working in medicine will have witnessed patient deaths which in some sense were ‘better’ than others and, if pushed to reflect on our own mortality, identified […]
Rational Investigations in IBS
Reassurance is an interesting concept in modern medicine. I remember my blood pressure creeping up at the sight of an advert on the tube a few years back for a health check involving a ‘whole body MRI scan,’ fuming over the willingness of this private healthcare provider to offer false assurance of alleviating any anxiety […]
Hepatology notebook….New articles in FG
Early paracentesis in decompensated cirrhosis As I write this piece, the newspaper front pages are in overdrive over the spread of Coronovirus from central China. There has been talk of military evacuations of Brits in high incidence regions. The medical registrar WhatsApp group at my hospital is replete with protocols to follow should we encounter […]
Treat to target in IBD? Should this be part of an individualised treatment plan?
Acceptability of a ‘treat to target’ approach in inflammatory bowel disease to patients in clinical remission 1. Christian Selinger1,2, 2. Jenelyn Carbonell1, 3. John Kane1, 4. Mandour Omer1, 5. Alexander Charles Ford1,2 Historically the goal in inflammatory bowel disease was to enable the patient to have absence of symptoms, ideally in the absence of requiring […]