The effect of Andrographis paniculata water extract on palliative management of metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma-A phase II clinical trial.

Patients with metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) have a grave prognosis with limited life expectancy. Here, a phase II clinical trial was conducted to investigate the effect of Andrographis paniculata (AP) on the palliative care of patients with metastatic ESCC. Patients with metastatic or locally advanced ESCC deemed unfit for surgery, and who have already completed palliative chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy or are not fit for these treatments, were recruited.

Herbal medicine for functional dyspepsia: Network meta-analysis of placebo-controlled randomised trials.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Conventional treatments for functional dyspepsia (FD) are limited. Herbal medicine (HM) use is prevalent despite unclear comparative effectiveness among different formulae.

Aim Of The Study: This network meta-analysis (NMA) aimed to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of HM formulae for FD against placebo.

Multinational survey on the preferred approach to management of Barrett's esophagus in the Asia-Pacific region.

Background: Major societies provide differing guidance on management of Barrett's esophagus (BE), making standardization challenging.

Aim: To evaluate the preferred diagnosis and management practices of BE among Asian endoscopists.

Methods: Endoscopists from across Asia were invited to participate in an online questionnaire comprising eleven questions regarding diagnosis, surveillance and management of BE.

Evaluating traditional Chinese medicine diagnostic instruments for functional dyspepsia: systematic review on measurement properties.

Background: in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been recognised by the eleventh revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). Accurate pattern diagnosis requires reliable and valid diagnostic instruments that guide the collection of TCM clinical data without bias. This study synthesised the existing TCM diagnostic instruments for functional dyspepsia (FD) and appraised their quality regarding their development process and measurement properties.

Non-specific effects of acupuncture and sham acupuncture in clinical trials from the patient's perspective: a systematic review of qualitative evidence.

Background: Previous clinical trials have demonstrated that both acupuncture and sham acupuncture exert significant, non-specific effects on treatment outcomes when compared to no-treatment controls. A recently developed framework (mechanisms in orthodox and complementary and alternative medicine-MOCAM) suggests that the non-specific effects of acupuncture originate from multiple domains (e.g.

A symptom severity questionnaire for patients suffering from functional gastrointestinal disorder: FGI-Checklist.

Background And Aim: A well-validated, comprehensive checklist of functional gastrointestinal (FGI) disorder (FGID) symptom severity for tracking symptom profile changes over time is lacking. We aim to develop and validate a comprehensive symptom severity checklist for FGID.

Methods: A 20-item scale, including both upper and lower gastrointestinal symptoms, was generated to measure the symptom severity commonly found in FGID.

Nature and specificity of altered cognitive functioning in IBS.

Background: It is unknown whether cognitive dysfunction found in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) was attributable to the different subtypes, ongoing pathophysiological processes, trait characteristics, or psychiatric comorbidity.

Methods: Forty Rome-III patients with IBS (20 diarrhea-predominant [IBS-D] and 20 constipation-predominant [IBS-C]) and 40 age-, sex-, education-matched healthy controls were systematically recruited and compared on their cognitive function with continuous performance test (CPT), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and emotional Stroop test. Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15) and a structured bowel symptom questionnaire were performed to measure anxiety, depressive, somatization, and bowel symptoms, respectively.

Overview of systematic reviews with meta-analyses on acupuncture in post-stroke cognitive impairment and depression management.

Acupuncture has been using as an alternative non-pharmacological therapy in the management of post stroke depression and cognitive impairment but its effectiveness and safety remain controversial. We conducted an overview of systematic reviews with meta-analyses to evaluate the evidence on the effect of acupuncture in the treatment of stroke with conventional medicine intervention. Systematic reviews summarized the treatment effects of acupuncture for post stroke cognitive impairment and post stroke depression were considered eligible.

Electroacupuncture plus on-demand gastrocaine for refractory functional dyspepsia: Pragmatic randomized trial.

Background And Aim: Treatment options for functional dyspepsia (FD) refractory to pharmacological treatments are limited but the effectiveness of electroacupuncture (EA) is uncertain. We assessed the effectiveness of EA combined with on-demand gastrocaine.

Methods: We conducted a single-center, assessor-blind, randomized parallel-group 2-arm trial on Helicobacter pylori negative FD patients of the postprandial distress syndrome subtype refractory to proton pump inhibitor, prokinetics, or H antagonists.

Effectiveness of reminder strategies on cancer screening adherence: a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Few randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have evaluated the different recalling approaches for enhancing adherence to faecal immunochemical test (FIT)-based screening.

Aim: The authors evaluated the effectiveness of two telecommunication strategies on improving adherence to yearly FIT screening.

Design And Setting: A randomised, parallel group trial was performed in a primary care screening practice.

A Prospective Study to Monitor for Tuberculosis During Anti-tumour Necrosis Factor Therapy in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Immune-mediated Inflammatory Diseases.

Background: Biologic therapies have revolutionised the treatment of immune-mediated diseases including inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] and rheumatological disorders. However, biologic treatments are associated with an increased risk of reactivation of latent tuberculosis. Data from regular monitoring for latent tuberculosis infection [LTBI] during biologic treatment are lacking.

Reduced lysosomal clearance of autophagosomes promotes survival and colonization of Helicobacter pylori.

Evasion of autophagy is key for intracellular survival of bacteria in host cells, but its involvement in persistent infection by Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium identified to invade gastric epithelial cells, remains obscure. The aim of this study was to functionally characterize the role of autophagy in H. pylori infection.

Association between investigator-measured body-mass index and colorectal adenoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 168,201 subjects.

The objective of this meta-analysis is to evaluate the odds of colorectal adenoma (CRA) in colorectal cancer screening participants with different body mass index (BMI) levels, and examine if this association was different according to gender and ethnicity. The EMBASE and MEDLINE were searched to enroll high quality observational studies that examined the association between investigator-measured BMI and colonoscopy-diagnosed CRA. Data were independently extracted by two reviewers.

Impairment of decision making and disruption of synchrony between basolateral amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex in the maternally separated rat.

There is considerable evidence to suggest early life experiences, such as maternal separation (MS), play a role in the prevalence of emotional dysregulation and cognitive impairment. At the same time, optimal decision making requires functional integrity between the amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and any dysfunction of this system is believed to induce decision-making deficits. However, the impact of MS on decision-making behavior and the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms have not been thoroughly studied.

Risk of Colorectal Neoplasia in Individuals With Self-Reported Family History: A Prospective Colonoscopy Study from 16 Asia-Pacific Regions.

Objectives: We tested the hypothesis that the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), advanced colorectal neoplasia (ACN), and colorectal adenoma among screening participants with different first-degree relatives (FDRs) affected by CRC was similar.

Methods: A multi-center, prospective colonoscopy study involving 16 Asia-Pacific regions was performed from 2008 to 2015. Consecutive self-referred CRC screening participants aged 40-70 years were recruited, and each subject received one direct optical colonoscopy.

Similar Efficacy of Proton-Pump Inhibitors vs H2-Receptor Antagonists in Reducing Risk of Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding or Ulcers in High-Risk Users of Low-Dose Aspirin.

Background & Aims: It is not clear whether H-receptor antagonists (H2RAs) reduce the risk of gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding in aspirin users at high risk. We performed a double-blind randomized trial to compare the effects of a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) vs a H2RA antagonist in preventing recurrent upper GI bleeding and ulcers in high-risk aspirin users.

Methods: We studied 270 users of low-dose aspirin (≤325 mg/day) with a history of endoscopically confirmed ulcer bleeding at 8 sites in Hong Kong and Japan.

Prevalence of hepatitis B and clinical outcomes in inflammatory bowel disease patients in a viral-endemic region.

Background: Little is known of the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and its effect on choice of therapy and disease course in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We assessed the prevalence of HBV in Hong Kong as well as determinants of altered transaminases, effects of HBV infection on therapeutic strategy and clinical course in IBD.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), liver function tests, and IBD disease characteristics were recorded.

An Ensemble Approach for Record Matching in Data Linkage.

Objectives: To develop and test an optimal ensemble configuration of two complementary probabilistic data matching techniques namely Fellegi-Sunter (FS) and Jaro-Wrinkler (JW) with the goal of improving record matching accuracy.

Methods: Experiments and comparative analyses were carried out to compare matching performance amongst the ensemble configurations combining FS and JW against the two techniques independently.

Results: Our results show that an improvement can be achieved when FS technique is applied to the remaining unsure and unmatched records after the JW technique has been applied.

Epidemiology of Inflammatory Bowel Disease from 1981 to 2014: Results from a Territory-Wide Population-Based Registry in Hong Kong.

Background: Incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing in Asia, but population-based prevalence data are limited. This study examined IBD incidence and prevalence based on results of a territory-wide IBD registry in Hong Kong.

Methods: We collected data on 2575 patients with IBD (1541 ulcerative colitis [UC], 983 Crohn's disease [CD], 51 IBD unclassified) from 1981 to 2014 using hospital and territory-wide administrative coding system.

Low-dose azathioprine is effective in maintaining remission in steroid-dependent ulcerative colitis: results from a territory-wide Chinese population-based IBD registry.

Background: Whether low-dose azathioprine (AZA) is effective in maintaining remission in patients with steroid-dependent ulcerative colitis (UC) remains unclear. We assessed the efficacy and safety of low-dose AZA in a Chinese population with UC.

Methods: We identified steroid-dependent UC patients in clinical remission on AZA maintenance therapy from a territory-wide IBD Registry.

Integrative Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine service model for low back pain.

Low back pain (LBP) is a common, costly, and debilitating condition that creates a heavy socioeconomic burden on the global health care systems. In Western Medicine (WM), the treatment goals are to relieve pain, reduce disability, and enhance rehabilitation. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), acupuncture is frequently used to rebalance the vital energy "Qi".

High morbidity and mortality of Clostridium difficile infection and its associations with ribotype 002 in Hong Kong.

Objectives: We aim to study the disease burden, risk factors and severity of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in Hong Kong.

Methods: We conducted a prospective, case-control study in three acute-care hospitals in Hong Kong. Adult inpatients who developed CDI diarrhoea confirmed by PCR (n = 139) were compared with the non-CDI controls (n = 114).