Researchers discover gene that helps control the production of stomach acid

sea-maid submitted, created time 2 months 3 days (www.eurekalert.org)

University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers have discovered a gene that helps control the secretion of acid in the stomach—information that could one day aid scientists in creating more efficient treatment options for conditions such as acid reflux or peptic ulcers

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Five Factors Predict Success in Gastric Banding Procedure

kavin submitted, created time 6 months 1 week (www.medscape.com)

June 19, 2008 (Washington, DC) — A nationwide survey in France has found five factors that are significantly associated with successful weight loss after gastric banding. The study was part of a survey of medical and surgical practices conducted by the French National Medical Insurance Service and presented here at the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery 25th Annual Meeting. "Success" was defined as the loss of more than 50% of excess body weight.

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Blocking appetite could block other things as well

Darkfrog submitted, created time 8 months 12 hours (www.nature.com)

A stomach hormone called ghrelin has been identified as a stimulant of the pleasure-causing portions of the brain. That's what makes all that food seem so extra appealing when one walks into a grocery store while hungry. What's new to this matter is the ability ghrelin has to stimulate and improve memories--at least memories of food.

Suppressing ghrelin has been proposed as a means of treating obesity, but this study suggests that doing so might have unpleasant mental side effects for those treated

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Stomach hormone turns hungry people into junkies

sea-maid submitted, created time 8 months 1 day (www.newscientist.com)

In this paper ,the researchers point out that stomach hormone turns hungry people into junkies.When volunteers received a dose of a natural hunger-inducing hormone called ghrelin, their brains responded to pictures of food in the same way that addicted people's brains do to cigarettes or drugs, says Alain Dagher, a neurologist at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, who led the study.
And the study also tell us that hormone has its stimulant effects and Memory improvement,mood changes.

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Be kind to your stomach: eat chilies

yangjane submitted, created time 1 year 3 months (www.theregister.co.uk)

Red hot chili peppers (not the band, the actual peppers) could be good for the stomach, according to new research.
Capsaicin, the part of chilies that makes them hot, can help to control the disease-causing bacterium, helicobacter pylori*. And the more capsaicin, the better, it seems.

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Yogurt drink settles stomach after antibiotics

bianjie submitted, created time 1 year 6 months (www.sciam.com)

A yogurt drink containing "good" bacteria helped patients avoid the diarrhea caused by antibiotics, British researchers reported on Friday.People who drank Actimel, made by French food group Danone, were able to leave the hospital sooner, the researchers said in the British Medical Journal.

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Gleevec Decreases Cancer Recurrence for Patients with Primary Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor

medal submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (www.nih.gov)

"Preliminary results from a large, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial for patients with primary gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), a type of tumor usually found in the stomach or small intestine, showed that patients who received imatinib mesylate (Gleevec ®) after complete removal of their tumor were significantly less likely to have a recurrence of their cancer compared to those who did not receive imatinib

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Not Milk? Neolithic Europeans Couldn't Stomach the Stuff

catherine submitted, created time 1 year 10 months (www.sciam.com)

In what they claim is the first direct evidence of the evolution of lactase-persistence (the ability to digest milk and other dairy foods), German and British researchers came up empty in their search for the gene variant that allows over 90 percent of northern Europeans to gulp down and properly digest milk. In many others around the world, lactose causes diarrhea and bloating, especially in adulthood

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