Joseph J Sung

..Both premalignant and malignant gastric lesions demonstrate strong COX-2 expression. Successful eradication of H. pylori leads to down-regulation of COX-2 expression but failed to reverse IM at 1 year...

..BACKGROUND: The use of this herbal formulation for diarrhea-predominant IBS did not lead to global symptom improvement. Further controlled clinical studies may be necessary to characterize the role of TCM in the management of IBS...

..The aim of this multicenter study was to test whether mucosal appearance, as reported by colon capsule endoscopy (CCE), can be used to differentiate active from inactive ulcerative colitis...

..This study explored the impact of climate variability on the transmission of malaria in the tropical rain forest area of Mengla County, south-west China...

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..The procedures developed in the present study will serve as a protocol for other poly-herbal Chinese medicine studies...

..The aim of this study was to validate a methodology for the epidemiological investigation of gastrointestinal symptoms and endoscopic findings in China...

..This study aimed to determine the prevalence of symptom-defined GERD across five regions of China, and to investigate variables associated with GERD...

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..A limited number of trials have investigated the efficacy of proton pump inhibitors for peptic ulcer bleeding, and some study design issues have been identified...

..Hemoclips, injection therapy and thermocoagulation (heater probe or electrocoagulation) are the most commonly used types of endoscopic hemostasis for the control of non-variceal gastrointestinal bleeding...

..The choice between surgery and repeat endoscopic therapy should be based on the pre-existing comorbidities of the patient and the characteristics of the ulcer...

..Although epidemiological data are scanty, most Asian populations are not aware of the growing problem of colorectal cancer. More work is needed to elucidate the magnitude of the problem in Asia...

..Whether or not one should test-and-treat H. pylori before prescribing NSAIDs is a complicated issue. Factors such as the ulcer risk of patients, previous history of NSAID usage and the use of aspirin or NSAIDs would guide the strategy...

..Endoscopists should keep their mind open and be prepared for the changing role of endoscopy in the new millennium...

..Report on the Asia Pacific Congress of Gastroenterology Digestive Week, Singapore, 2003..

..The optimal treatment of ulcers with nonbleeding visible vessels and adherent clots is unclear...

..Exploration of its clinical applications should focus on conditions for which conventional medicine can find no satisfactory remedy...

..This study aimed to determine whether intrahepatic hepatitis B virus (HBV) covalently closed circular (ccc) DNA and total HBV DNA levels at the end of therapy would predict sustained response to therapy...

..Traditional Chinese Medicine was frequently used by patients with irritable bowel syndrome...

..The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy and safety of these 3 screening procedures in a general population of ethnic Chinese...

..Ongoing clinical studies should show whether the theoretical advantage translates into clinically meaningful benefits...

..We aimed to evaluate nucleoside/nucleotide combination therapy in treatment-naïve HBeAg-positive patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB)...

..There is no consensus on whether nurses should be trained to perform endoscopic procedures for screening of colorectal neoplasia...

..Aspirin should be resumed soon after stabilisation and clopidogrel alone is no safer than aspirin plus a PPI. When dual antiplatelet agents are used, prophylactic use of a PPI reduces the risk of adverse gastrointestinal events...

..We studied the superoxide generation of Kupffer cell in biliary obstruction and after incubation with bile acids to elucidate the mechanism of impaired intracellular killing of these phagocytes...

..The safety and effectiveness of Hemospray for hemostasis of active peptic ulcer bleeding in humans was evaluated...

..We have previously shown that ranitidine bismuth citrate (RBC)-based triple therapy is comparable to proton pump inhibitor-based triple therapy in eradicating Helicobacter pylori infection...

..We estimated the risk of advanced colonic neoplasia (ACN) from polyps <10 mm and the risk of ACN detection failure if patients with polyps <10 mm are not referred for colonoscopy...

..We studied if H. pylori eradication would alter the course of premalignant histologic changes in the stomach...

..The use of potent anti-ulcer therapy, treatment of H. pylori infection and the development of Cox-II inhibitor will change the scenario of NSAID/aspirin-related gastrointestinal toxicity in the next millennium...

..We aimed to determine whether clinicians in the Asia-Pacific region are treating patients with chronic hepatitis B according to the Asia-Pacific consensus statement on the management of chronic hepatitis B...

..Instead of merely focusing on safety in the gastrointestinal tract, striking a balance between risk and benefit of continuing anti-platelet agents should be a top agenda...

..Use of proton-pump inhibitors in the management of peptic ulcer bleeding is controversial because discrepant results have been reported in different ethnic groups...

..It is uncertain whether aspirin therapy should be continued after endoscopic hemostatic therapy in patients who develop peptic ulcer bleeding while receiving low-dose aspirin...

..The present study aims to investigate the number of existing and new cases of IBD and to understand the current practice of diagnosis and treatment of IBD in different Asian countries...

..Despite advances in endoscopic and pharmacological treatment for peptic ulcer bleeding (PUB), mortality remains at 5-10% worldwide. Our aim was to investigate the causes of death in a prospective cohort of PUB in a tertiary referral center...

..The management of H. pylori infection has improved radically in recent years; however, the prescription of ASA and NSAIDs has increased over the same period...

..It is uncertain whether infection with Helicobacter pylori is a risk factor for bleeding in such patients...

..Preoperative diagnosis of peritoneal metastases (PM) is difficult in patients with gastric cancer (GC)...

..Currently available serology tests often show sub-optimal accuracy when used for Asian patients...

..004). CONCLUSION: Both rapid serology tests appear to be specific in diagnosing Helicobacter pylori infection in the Chinese populations. However the ASSURE Hp test is more sensitive and accurate than the SureStep test...

..No association was found between HP infection, glycaemic status, and duration of diabetes and upper gastrointestinal symptoms in these diabetic subjects...

..One-week triple regimens have been shown to be effective for the treatment of Helicobacter pylori-related peptic ulcer disease...

..Our results suggested that alterations of FzE3 or hsFRP were frequent in gastric cancer. These provide alternative mechanisms leading to activation of Wnt signaling pathway in gastric carcinogenesis...

..Transcriptional silencing by CpG-island hypermethylation now is believed to be an important mechanism of tumorigenesis. To date, studies on CpG-island hypermethylation in gastric carcinoma and adjacent normal tissues are few...

..pylori -infected NSAID users. The efficacy of PPIs for the prevention of ulcer complications in H. pylori-negative NSAID users remains uncertain...

..Whether it is a significant problem in the Orient is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of non-H pylori, non-NSAID ulcers presenting with GI bleeding...

..Imbalance between apoptosis and proliferation may be one of the mechanisms underlying H. pylori associated gastric carcinogenesis...

..We investigated the effects of H. pylori eradication on the healing of NSAID-associated bleeding peptic ulcers...

..The use of this simple and non-invasive diagnostic technique in protein-losing enteropathy is discussed...

..Salvage therapies after initial Helicobacter pylori eradication failure of ranitidine bismuth citrate (RBC)-based regimens remain undefined...

..Our aim was to investigate the use of endosonography (EUS) in monitoring cyanoacrylate injection to obliterate gastric varices...

..Prophylactic misoprostol or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) with low gastric toxicity (nabumetone) has been shown to reduce mucosal injury...

..There are conflicting reports on the expression of cyclooxygenase in Helicobacter pylori infection...

..Transgastric access to the peritoneal cavity presents new opportunities for novel endoscopic surgery. Secure closure of the gastrotomy site is critical to the success of transgastric endoscopic surgery...

..pylori-associated intestinal metaplasia. Eradication of H. pylori infection reverses the aberrant expression of cyclin D2 and p27 in intestinal metaplasia...

..We systematically analyzed the risk factors for nosocomial outbreaks of SARS among hospital wards in Guangzhou and Hong Kong, China...

..07). The results from this study suggest that gastric cancer with microsatellite instability or COX-2 overexpression present with diverse clinicopathological features...

..CONCLUSIONS: The postulated link between H. pylori infection and ischemic heart disease, if it actually exists, is unlikely to be mediated through hyperhomocysteinemia...

..This finding raises concerns as to the safety of the "test-and-treat" strategy for the management of patients with dyspepsia in Asia...

..Helicobacter pylori infection has been suggested to be protective against gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. However, a significant proportion of patients with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease are infected by H. pylori...

..3%) patients and had a significantly stronger COX-2 expression than tumours without p53 mutation (P = 0.016). Our results suggest a link between p53 mutation and COX-2 overexpression in gastric cancer...

..Frequent and repeated injection is also a big burden for patients. In the present study, a single dose of vector-delivered IFNalpha1 was tested for its anti-HBV effects...

..Hepatitis A vaccination of patients with or without chronic HBV infection has been shown to be efficacious and associated with a good safety profile...

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..The use of intravenous (i.v.) proton pump inhibitors (PPI) before an endoscopy in upper-GI bleeding (UGIB) was shown to reduce the need of endoscopic therapy and shorten hospital stay...

..To document the outcome and determine prognostic factors for patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome who require admission to an intensive care unit...

..Although there is little evidence to support a causal relationship between H. pylori and non-ulcer dyspepsia, treatment of the infection gives a modest improvement of symptoms...

..Our study demonstrated the early and specific involvement of promoter hypermethylation in the colorectal adenoma-carcinoma sequence...

..CONCLUSION: Epigenetic inactivation of UCHL1 is common in primary HCCs and other digestive tumors. UCHL1 appears to be a functional tumor suppressor involved in the tumorigenesis of HCCs and other digestive cancers...

..029; odds ratio, 2.74; 95% confidence interval, 1.15 to 6.57; controls, P = 0.04; odds ratio, 2.41; 95% confidence interval, 1.05 to 5.54), and both CD14-159CC and FcgammaRIIA-RR131 are risk genotypes for severe SARS-CoV infection...

..RNA interference may be a promising alternative to specific COX-2 inhibitors in the prevention and treatment of gastric cancer...

..Respiratory assist devices, such as oxygen masks, may enhance the potential to spread infectious aerosols from patients with respiratory infections...

..In populations at different cancer risk, the gastritis OLGA stage mirrored the gastric cancer incidence. Gastritis staging identifies a subgroup of higher-risk patients...

..This quantitative assessment further supports SARS-CoV has a specific tropism for the human respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts, which may be related to the density of SARS-CoV receptors...

..The results will have important implications on the planning for future colorectal cancer screening in this region...

..The effectiveness of antiviral therapy in preventing disease progression in patients with chronic hepatitis B and advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis is unknown...

..pylori eradication in H. pylori-positive subjects in a high incidence region of gastric cancer...

..60; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.03 to 2.50; P=0.04). CONCLUSIONS: SARS is a serious respiratory illness that led to significant morbidity and mortality in our cohort...

..Based on these findings, it will be important to determine whether inhibiting COX-derived PGE(2) synthesis alters the progression of liver fibrosis in vivo...

..Objectives: To describe the spectrum of SARS coronavirus infection in a large outbreak and to compare diagnoses based on clinical judgment with the SARS coronavirus test...

..In contrast, treatment with warfarin should be discontinued, because this was associated with a significant increase in post-polypectomy bleeding...

..Thus, gastric cancers with methylation in cox-2 may not be good candidates for treatment with specific COX-2 inhibitors...

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..These results suggest that HLTF promoter hypermethylation is frequently demonstrated in human gastric cancer, and inactivation of HLTF or the chromatin-remodeling complex may play a crucial role in gastric carcinogenesis...

..Patients who are older and have more severe disease during treatment are more likely to develop thin-section CT findings of fibrosis...

..CONCLUSION: Our findings suggested "early" corticosteroid treatment was associated with a higher subsequent plasma viral load...

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..An analysis of captured digital images showed that the exhaled air at the peak of simulated exhalation reached a distance of approximately 0.40 m...