News & Updates

A shorter treatment course with acupoint catgut embedding (ACE) therapy appears to more effectively improve gallbladder emptying, suggests a recent study. Thus, ACE as an adjunct to tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) therapy may serve as a time-saving treatment for gallstones.

New drug applications approved by US FDA as of 16-31 December 2021 which includes New Molecular Entities (NMEs) and new biologics. It does not include Tentative Approvals. Supplemental approvals may have occurred since the original approval date.

Cigarette smoking may increase the risk of gastric intestinal metaplasia (GIM), and such risk remains significantly elevated among former smokers until 15 years post-cessation, reveals a recent study.

Old age (>65 years) is independently associated with a higher probability of death among ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) patients, a study has found.

Bifidobacterium adolescentis, a unique gut bacterium, is correlated with the efficacy of the inactivated and mRNA coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines available in Hong Kong, a collaborative study between the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has shown.

Frequent bathroom urgency in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) could well predict UC severity. Hence, it should be considered a UC-specific patient-reported outcome, said experts at AIBD 2021.