BACKGROUND Dabigatran, a non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant, has been shown to prevent stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. Nonetheless, studies show that 10%-30% of those prescribed dabigatran experience dyspepsia that may eventually lead to discontinuation of therapy and loss of clinical benefit. AIM To evaluate the gastrointestinal tolerability of dabigatran u...

BACKGROUND Dyspepsia has been demonstrated worldwide to have major personal and societal impacts, but data on the burden of this disease in Africa are lacking. OBJECTIVE To document the prevalence of dyspepsia and its quality-of-life impact among healthcare workers (HCWs) at Butare University Teaching Hospital (BUTH), Rwanda. METHODS A cross-sectional survey among consenting HCWs at BUTH wa...

Dyspepsia, according to the internationally accepted Rome criteria, refers to pain or discomfort centred in the upper abdomen; patients with predominant heartburn are excluded from this group, although minor or infrequent heartburn is commonly associated with dyspepsia. It is an important condition not only because it is common and costly, but because it may indicate the presence of serious dis...

OBJECTIVE Our objective was to review and compare, with meta-analytic methods, observational studies on the association of medically unexplained physical symptoms, anxiety, and depression with special emphasis on healthy and organically ill control groups and on different types of symptoms, measures, and illness behavior. METHODS A search of MEDLINE and PsycLIT/PsycINFO for abstracts from 198...

BACKGROUND & AIMS Helicobacter pylori is believed to predispose to gastric cancer by inducing gastric atrophy and hypochlorhydria. First-degree relatives of patients with gastric cancer have an increased risk of developing gastric cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of atrophy and hypochlorhydria and their association with H. pylori infection in first-degree relatives ...

OBJECTIVE To assess adherence with guidelines for testing and treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection and upper gastrointestinal symptoms. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective longitudinal cohort analysis of patient-level medical and pharmacy claims from 75 US managed care plans. METHODS Persons with new claims for antisecretory medication, H pylori tests, or endoscopies were selected from among 2...

Recently, we reported that the patterns of antibodies to Helicobacter pylori protein antigens in serum may be useful for screening patients at high risk for ulcers (P. Aucher et al., J. Clin. Microbiol. 36:931-936, 1998). Here we report the identification, by a combination of electrophoretic, immunochemical, and protein sequencing methods, of five antigens that correspond to this antibody patte...

AIM Prostaglandins (PGs) and leukotrienes (LTs) are major factors involved in the defense of the gastric mucosa against ulcer formation. However, little is still known about the gastromucosa-protecting action of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and histamine H(2) receptor antagonists (H(2) blockers) in patients with gastric ulcer. We therefore examined the effectiveness of a PPI in protecting the ...