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Gastroenterology news

Night owls who eat late may face higher health risks

A new study led by UTHealth Houston identified a link between late-night eating and sleeping habits, gut health and metabolic disease, offering new insights into why some individuals with obesity may face a risk of inflammation ...

Coffee appears to change how the gut functions

If you drink coffee regularly, it appears to alter not only your gut bacteria but also the physiology of the gut itself. That is the conclusion of a study from the University of Copenhagen, which may help point the way toward ...

Common gut virus infects bacteria—not human cells

Thriving alongside trillions of bacteria in the human digestive tract is a vast population of viruses. Ever since one such denizen of the gut microbiome, known as picobirnavirus, was first spotted decades ago, researchers ...

New global research highlights burden of unsafe food

If it isn't safe, it isn't food. That message sits at the heart of a major new global effort by the World Health Organization (WHO). University of Waterloo public health researcher Dr. Shannon Majowicz contributed research ...

Colon cancer cells may change identity to metastasize

Loss of GATA6—a transcription factor that controls which genes are turned on or off—can reprogram colorectal cancer cells into more primitive, adaptable states that can then spread to the liver and establish new tumors, according ...

Engineered probiotic heads to human trials

A probiotic bioengineered by UBC Okanagan researchers to thrive in the inflamed gut is set to enter human clinical trials in Australia this summer, capping a decade-long effort to turn a beneficial bacterium into a treatment ...

Microplastics may worsen fatty liver disease, new study suggests

Microplastics—minuscule pieces of plastic broken down from larger plastic waste—are a growing concern for human health, especially for the liver. A study from the University of Oklahoma, published in Science Advances, demonstrates ...

Beyond GLP-1s: The next chapter of obesity care

The rapid rise of GLP-1 medications such as semaglutide and tirzepatide has transformed obesity treatment. Still, experts say medications alone are not enough to address one of the nation's most pressing chronic diseases.