Chronic gastrointestinal symptoms are highly prevalent in different geographic populations and cause various gastrointestinal symptoms that greatly inconvenience the lives of those affected. Examples include GERD, uninvestigated dyspepsia, irritable bowel syndrome, and chronic constipation.

A simulated gastrointestinal system is helping scientists test contaminated soil for its potential to harm humans. The method is likely to save time and money for people hoping to repurpose land with an industrial past.

With a long-held commitment to continuously improving the quality and safety of patient care, Mayo Clinic researchers are recommending a new technologically-advanced labeling system aimed at reducing specimen labeling errors in a high-volume gastrointestinal endoscopy center. That conclusion is based on the results of a study they are presenting at the 2008 American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) Annual Meeting.

Probiotic bacteria, defined as living microorganisms that have beneficial effects on human health, have mostly been studied in the prevention and treatment of different gastrointestinal diseases and allergies. Probiotic products, however, are usually consumed by the general, healthy population but not much is known what kind of effects they have on the immune system in healthy adults.

The Gram negative bacterium H pylori is involved in the pathogenesis of several gastrointestinal diseases, ultimately leading to gastric carcinoma. Adhesion of the bacteria to the gastric mucosa is an essential step for colonization and infection.

Tumor growth has commonly been viewed as a result of mutations in a given cell that will therefore proliferate uncontrollably. However, a study conducted at the University of Helsinki, Finland, has demonstrated that in certain type of gastrointestinal polyps, the cause of tumor development are mutations in the smooth muscle cells, previously regarded as “innocent bystanders”.

The soy isoflavone genistin--at concentrations present in soy infant formula-- may reduce a baby’s susceptibility to rotavirus infections by as much as 74 percent, according to a University of Illinois study published in September’s Journal of Nutrition.

New evidence implicating beach sand as a reservoir for E. coli - the bacterium that is used as an indicator that water has been contaminated by fecal material - has been reported by scientists at the University of Minnesota.