Publications by authors named "Christopher P Farrell"

Background: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) cause a sharp elevation of gastro-duodenal luminal pH which in turn has resulted in reports of reduced absorption of magnesium and certain other nutrients.

Methods: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) patients on long-term PPI therapy (> 6 months) or healthy test subjects (not on any acid preventive or neutralizing medication) were administered oral doses of zinc gluconate (26.2 mg zinc, twice daily) for 14 days followed by 5 cc venous blood samples.

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Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn's Disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC), is characterized by inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. In UC, inflammation is confined to the mucosa, initially involving the rectum, and may extend proximally to involve the entire colon. In CD, transmural inflammation may affect any portion of the GI tract.

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Background: Patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) are susceptible to stress ulcers. We hypothesize that despite recommendations, stress ulcer prophylaxis (SUP) is still overused in the ICU and often continued after resolution of risk factors for bleeding.

Methods: We retrospectively studied all ICU admissions for 4 months.

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Proton pump inhibitors are the second most commonly prescribed drug class in the United States. The increased utilization of PPIs parallels the rising incidence of reflux disease. Owing to their clinical efficacy and relative lack of tachyphylaxis, PPIs have largely displaced H-2 receptor antagonists in the treatment of acid peptic disorders.

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Despite their remarkable safety profile and lack of clinical side effects, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) induce a transmucosal gastric leak to non-electrolyte probes of various sizes. The ex vivo addition of PPIs to isolated rat gastric corpus increases transmucosal permeability in a dose-dependent manner, which corresponds with PPIs' dose-dependent inhibition of acid secretion. Upon the addition of omeprazole, lansoprazole, or esomeprazole, a small decrease in transepithelial resistance and the concomitant stimulation of short circuit current was observed.

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