Analysis of a Blog for Gastrointestinal Disease in the View Point of the Big Data: A Single Institutional Study / 대한소화기학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: With the enormous increase in the amount of data, the concept of big data has emerged and this allows us to gain new insights and appreciate its value. However, analysis related to gastrointestinal diseases in the viewpoint of the big data has not been performed yet in Korea. This study analyzed the data of the blog's visitors as a set of big data to investigate questions they did not mention in the clinical situation. METHODS: We analyzed the blog of a professor whose subspecialty is gastroenterology at Gangnam Severance Hospital. We assessed the changes in the number of visitors, access path of visitors, and the queries from January 2011 to December 2013. RESULTS: A total of 50,084 visitors gained accessed to the blog. An average of 1,535.3 people visited the blog per month and 49.5 people per day. The number of visitors and the cumulative number of registered posts showed a positive correlation. The most utilized access path of visitors to the website was blog.iseverance.com (42.2%), followed by Google (32.8%) and Daum (6.6%). The most searched term by the visitors in the blog was intestinal metaplasia (16.6%), followed by dizziness (8.3%) and gastric submucosal tumor (7.0%). CONCLUSIONS: Personal blog can function as a communication route for patients with digestive diseases. The most frequently searched word necessitating explanation and education was 'intestinal metaplasia'. Identifying and analyzing even unstructured data as a set of big data is expected to provide meaningful information.

Analysis of a Blog for Gastrointestinal Disease in the View Point of the Big Data: A Single Institutional Study / 대한소화기학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: With the enormous increase in the amount of data, the concept of big data has emerged and this allows us to gain new insights and appreciate its value. However, analysis related to gastrointestinal diseases in the viewpoint of the big data has not been performed yet in Korea. This study analyzed the data of the blog's visitors as a set of big data to investigate questions they did not mention in the clinical situation. METHODS: We analyzed the blog of a professor whose subspecialty is gastroenterology at Gangnam Severance Hospital. We assessed the changes in the number of visitors, access path of visitors, and the queries from January 2011 to December 2013. RESULTS: A total of 50,084 visitors gained accessed to the blog. An average of 1,535.3 people visited the blog per month and 49.5 people per day. The number of visitors and the cumulative number of registered posts showed a positive correlation. The most utilized access path of visitors to the website was blog.iseverance.com (42.2%), followed by Google (32.8%) and Daum (6.6%). The most searched term by the visitors in the blog was intestinal metaplasia (16.6%), followed by dizziness (8.3%) and gastric submucosal tumor (7.0%). CONCLUSIONS: Personal blog can function as a communication route for patients with digestive diseases. The most frequently searched word necessitating explanation and education was 'intestinal metaplasia'. Identifying and analyzing even unstructured data as a set of big data is expected to provide meaningful information.

Alimentary factors in the development of gastric intestinal metaplasia in functional dyspeptic patients / Fatores alimentares envolvidos no desenvolvimento de metaplasia intestinal em dispépticos funcionais

CONTEXT: Intestinal metaplasia of the stomach is a lesion in which metaplasia of gastric epithelial cells occurs for an intestinal phenotype. Gastric intestinal metaplasia is a lesion associated with an increase in the risk of gastric carcinoma development. Epidemiologic studies indicate a relation between dietary habits and stomach cancer development, some habits increasing the risk for it, and others have a protective effect, suggesting that antioxidants, such as vitamins A, C, and E, decrease the risk of this type of cancer. The relationship of these alimentary factors and intestinal metaplasia is unknown. METHODS: It is a case-control, observational study in which 320 patients with functional dyspepsia, divided in two groups, were assessed. The case I group (individuals with intestinal metaplasia) had their dietary pattern compared to that of the control group, constituted of individuals similar to those in the case group but without intestinal metaplasia, through a food frequency questionnaire. RESULTS: The analysis of the dietary pattern of functional dyspeptic patients with intestinal metaplasia, and its comparison with those without intestinal metaplasia, showed a higher frequency of canned and smoked foods consumption in the first group and, on the other hand, a higher consumption of fruits and vegetables in patients without intestinal metaplasia. No effect of salt consumption was detected. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained in this study suggest changes in the diet, with a decrease in the consumption of smoked and canned foods, and an increase in the consumption of fruits and vegetables, can lead to a diminution of gastric intestinal metaplasia cases.

CONTEXTO: A metaplasia intestinal do estômago é uma lesão onde ocorre a metaplasia das células epiteliais gástricas para um fenótipo intestinal. A metaplasia intestinal gástrica é considerada uma lesão associada ao aumento do risco de desenvolvimento de carcinoma gástrico. Estudos epidemiológicos indicam uma relação entre hábitos alimentares e o risco de desenvolvimento de câncer de estômago: tanto podendo ter efeito carcinogênico gástrico, como fator protetor, sugerindo que os antioxidantes como as vitaminas A, C e E diminuem o risco desse tipo de câncer. Não se conhece a influência desses fatores alimentares na metaplasia intestinal gástrica. MATERIAL: Trata-se de estudo caso-controle, observacional, para o qual foram avaliados 320 pacientes com dispepsia funcional, separados em dois grupos, um grupo de casos I (indivíduos com metaplasia intestinal) teve seus hábitos alimentares comparados aos do grupo de casos-controle (sem metaplasia intestinal), através de um questionário de frequência de consumo alimentar. RESULTADOS: Ao analisarmos o padrão alimentar dos pacientes dispépticos funcionais com metaplasia intestinal e compará-lo com o padrão daqueles que não possuem metaplasia intestinal, constatou-se que os pacientes com metaplasia intestinal consomem mais alimentos como os enlatados e defumados, enquanto os pacientes sem metaplasia intestinal apresentam consumo expressivamente maior de frutas em geral e vegetais. Diferença no padrão de consumo de sal não foi identificada. CONCLUSÕES: Através dos resultados obtidos no presente estudo podemos supor que a modificação da dieta, por meio da diminuição na ingestão de alimentos como defumados e enlatados e acréscimo na ingestão de frutas e vegetais pode levar a diminuição de casos de metaplasia intestinal.

Examen citológico anal: prevalencia y citomorfología de las anormalidades / Anal cytological examination: histological and cellular parameters

Introducción: El estudio citológico anal es usado más frecuentemente como un test de screening para detectar las lesiones intraepiteliales escamosas anales (ASIL en inglés). Este estudio tuvo como objetivo la evaluación del uso y limitaciones del citológico anal en busca de la ASIL. Método: Se realizó un examen citológico anal de un hemiano, raspando con un bisturí y colocando en portaobjetos. Estos se sumergieron por espacio de un minuto en alcohol 96 por ciento y luego se llevaron al laboratorio para tinción y análisis. Fueron recolectadas 200 muestras. Pacientes: 100 pacientes fueron operados del ano desde Julio 2007 hasta Mayo 2008, que se separaron en varios grupos según la patología anal. Resultados: 55 pacientes fueron mujeres. El promedio de edad fue 47 años. La patología más frecuente por la cual los pacientes fueron intervenidos quirúrgicamente fue hemorroides. También hubieron fistulas y fisuras, así como condilomas. Encontramos metaplasia en el 60 por ciento de los pacientes y ninguna displasia severa. Se describieron las morfologías celulares que acompañan a la metaplasia. Conclusiones: En este estudio el examen citológico anal tiene una alta sensibilidad para la detección de metaplasia y displasia en pacientes de la población general operados del ano. Por lo tanto sugerimos que se realice en todos los pacientes que vayan a ser operados del ano o que consulten por patología anal, pues es un estudio sencillo de realizar y poco costoso, demostrando que hay muchos pacientes con cambios en el epitelio anal.

Introduction: The anal cytological study is mostly used as a screening test to detect anal scamous intraepithelial lesions (ASIL), among high risk populations. The objective of this study was to assess the use and limitations of the anal cytological one, as well as, to establish the parameters of histology and cytology. Method: An anal histological examination was performed with a curettage, and the material obtained was placed in a slide. It is submerged in 96 per cent alcohol for one minute and then, it is taken to the laboratory to be tinted. 200 samples were collected from 100 patients. Patients: These 100 patients underwent anal surgery from July 2007 to May 2008. They were organized in several groups in accordance with the anal pathology. Results: 55 of them were women. Average age was 47 years old. The most frequent pathology the patients were operated on was hemorrhoids. There were also, fistulas and fissures, as well as condylomas. Metaplasia was observed in 60 per cent of the patients. The cellular morphologies that come with metaplasia were described. Conclusions: In this study, the anal cytological examination is highly sensitive to metaplasia and displasia detection, in patients who underwent anal surgery. Thus, we recommend this study to all patients who will undergo anal surgery or who enquire about any anal pathology. This is a simple and cheap study, and shows that there are a lot of patients with changes in the anal epithelium.

Eradication of Helicobacter pylori decreases the expression of p53 and c-Myc oncogenes

Although it is fairly well accepted that Helicobacter pylori infection [H. pylori] plays a significant role in causing gastric cancer, the exact mechanisms involved in its pathogenesis are unclear and there is controversial data about the state of chronic gastritis and the precancerous lesion after treatment of H. pylori. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between H. pylori infection, the activity of chronic gastritis and oncogenes before and after treatment of H. pylori. Fifty-five of chronic gastritis cases were studied for H. pylori, activity of chronic gastritis, p53 and c-Myc expression. Positive H. pylori cases were re-evaluated again for the activity of gastritis, expression of p53 and c-Myc after treatment [6 months later]. Forty-five cases were positive for H. pylori. The activity of chronic gastritis correlated with H. pylori infection. p53 and c-Myc expression correlated positively with the grade of chronic gastritis. After treatment of H. pylori, the activity of gastritis decreased and the expression of both p53 and c-Myc decreased. H. pylori infection in the gastric mucosa may be implicated in the pathway of gastric carcinogenesis. It seems that H. pylori infection is responsible for early genomic instability even before any neoplastic changes and its eradication can reverse the sequence of inflammation and related atrophy, metaplasia, and genomic instability and, thus, may prevent gastric cancer development