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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 ...

Genetic marker may flag severe IBD earlier in some patients

In the largest genetic study of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) traits to date, researchers have identified a genetic marker associated with more severe ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease—the major forms of IBD.

Megacolon: When constipation becomes something more serious

The colon is about one and a half meters long and plays a vital role in moving waste through the body. In rare cases, it can become so stretched that it begins to lose its ability to work properly, like an elastic band that ...

Engineers find a way to deliver drugs directly to the esophagus

There are few treatment options available for people with disorders of the esophagus. Delivering drugs directly to this part of the body is difficult, so patients are usually treated with systemic drugs, which can have unwanted ...