The Clinician's Guide to Suspected Small Bowel Bleeding.

Small bowel bleeding accounts for 5-10% of gastrointestinal bleeding. With the advent of capsule endoscopy, device-assisted enteroscopy, and multiphase CT scanning, a small bowel source can now be found in many instances of what has previously been described as obscure gastrointestinal bleeding. We present a practical review on the evaluation and management of small bowel bleeding for the practicing clinician.

Severe Diarrhea in the Setting of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICPIs) are novel therapeutic agents targeting a variety of cancers by enhanced T cell activation. Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) commonly occur with ICPI use and can affect multiple organ systems including the gastrointestinal tract. Due to irAEs, the use of ICPIs is limited in autoimmune diseases.

Identifying family members who are likely to perceive benefits from providing care to a person with a primary malignant brain tumor.

Purpose/objectives: To identify changes in positive aspects of care (PAC) from the time of diagnosis to four months following the diagnosis in family caregivers of care recipients with primary malignant brain tumors.

Design: Longitudinal.

Setting: Dyads were recruited from neurosurgery clinics in Pittsburgh, PA, at the time of care recipients' diagnosis with a primary malignant brain tumor.

Understanding recruitment and retention in neurological research.

Cognitive deficits in participants and the abrupt and traumatic way in which many neurological conditions present are two examples of the unique challenges in recruiting and retaining participants with neurological injury for research studies. The purpose of this investigation was to identify obstacles to recruitment and retention in three ongoing research studies. These studies involve persons with neurological disorders across the continuum of care, from those newly diagnosed and with emergent presentation to those with more established chronic neurological conditions.

Perceptions of economic hardship and emotional health in a pilot sample of family caregivers.

Although several studies have quantified costs of cancer care; none to date have examined how cancer costs impact family caregivers' emotional health. This study was designed to evaluate how perceptions of economic hardship influence burden, depressive symptoms, and anxiety in family caregivers of persons with a primary malignant brain tumor. Caregiver (CG)/patient dyads (n = 33) were recruited at the time of diagnosis; data were collected at diagnosis and 4 months, and linear regression determined the impact of economic hardship on caregivers' emotional health.

Personal care products that contain estrogens or xenoestrogens may increase breast cancer risk.

Established models of breast cancer risk, such as the Gail model, do not account for patterns of the disease in women under the age of 35, especially in African Americans. With the possible exceptions of ionizing radiation or inheriting a known genetic mutation, most of the known risk factors for breast cancer are related to cumulative lifetime exposure to estrogens. Increased risk of breast cancer has been associated with earlier onset of menses or later age at menopause, nulliparity or late first parity, use of hormonal contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy, shorter lactation history, exposure to light at night, obesity, and regular ingestion of alcohol, all of which increase circulating levels of unbound estradiol.