A 30-year-old woman presented with halitosis, sour taste, bloating, and right-sided abdominal pain of 3-months' duration. An upper gastrointestinal series revealed a diverticulum in the posterior cardia of the stomach. The patient underwent a laparoscopic resection of the diverticulum. Postoperatively, the patient did well; at a 28-month follow-up, no further symptoms were reported. Laparoscopi...

Functional gastrointestinal disorders are the most common problem in gastroenterological practice. They are defined by chronic abdominal symptom complexes that occur in the absence of underlying structural abnormalities. The pathogenesis of these disorders is heterogeneous and involves behavioral, infective, and inflammatory components. Common symptoms are abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation...

An intraluminal duodenal diverticulum (IDD) is a rare congenital anomaly that is the result of incomplete recanalization of the embryologic foregut leaving a fenestrated membrane within the lumen of the duodenum. Years of peristalsis acting on the membrane result in the formation of a diverticulum. Most patients are asymptomatic, while some may have abdominal pain, bloating, or fullness. Rare c...

INTRODUCTION Tegaserod maleate (ZelnormTM, Novartis) is a unique pharmacological agent for the treatment of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) with constipation (IBS-C). Unlike traditional IBS therapies, which target only single IBS symptoms, tegaserod has provided global relief of the multiple symptoms of IBS, including abdominal pain and discomfort, bloating, and constipation.1–4 It...

Since it is not known whether the symptoms and bowel function of patients with the irritable bowel syndrome are truly abnormal we used diaries and frequent telephone interviews over a 31 day period to assess symptoms, defecation, and stool types in 26 unselected female hospital patients with the irritable bowel syndrome, 27 women who admitted to recurrent colonic pain but had not consulted a do...

BACKGROUND In Brazil, an increasing number of people are submitted to colonoscopy, either for screening or for therapeutic purposes. AIM To evaluate whether there are advantages of using carbon dioxide (CO2) over air for insufflation. METHODS Two hundred and ten of 219 patients were considered eligible for this study and were randomized into two groups according to the gas insufflation used...

BACKGROUND Yacon is a root crop which contains high amounts of fructooligosaccharides (FOS). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of yacon syrup on colon transit time in healthy volunteers. METHODS In a placebo-controlled, double-blind study yacon was administered to 16 healthy individuals (8 males, 8 females) in a dose of 20 g daily (equal to 6.4 g FOS) in a 2-week crossover ...

Loss of Su(var)3-7 or HP1 suppresses the genomic silencing of position-effect variegation, whereas over-expression enhances it. In addition, loss of Su(var)3-7 results in preferential male lethality. In polytene chromosomes deprived of Su(var)3-7, we observe a specific bloating of the male X chromosome, leading to shortening of the chromosome and to blurring of its banding pattern. In addition,...