Colorectal cancers and chlorinated water.

Published reports have revealed increased risk of colorectal cancers in people exposed to chlorinated drinking water or chemical derivatives of chlorination. Oestrogen plays a dual positive functions for diminishing the possibilities of such risk by reducing the entrance, and increasing the excretion, of these chemicals. In addition, there are supplementary measures that could be employed in order to reduce this risk further, such as boiling the drinking water, revising the standard concentrations of calcium, magnesium and iron in the public drinking water and prescribing oestrogen in susceptible individuals. Hypo-methylation of genomic DNA could be used as a biological marker for screening for the potential development of colorectal cancers.

Epidemiology and inflammatory bowel diseases.

The role of alcohol in causing or aggravating the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease is unclear. For finding a conclusive answer for this valuable question we conducted this review. Only two studies were identified that successfully fulfilled our inclusive criteria. Usual consumption of alcohol reduced the risk compared with less frequent use (odds ratio = 0.57, 95%CI: 0.37-0.86). Light alcoholic drinking has protective effects against development of ulcerative colitis. But this inverse association disappeared when smoking was included.

Trends on gastrointestinal bleeding and mortality: where are we standing?

Bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract and its management are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The predisposing factors that led to the occurrence of these hemorrhagic instances are largely linked to the life style of the affected persons. Designing a new strategy aimed at educating the publics and improving their awareness of the problem could effectively help in eradicating this problem with no associated risks and in bringing the mortality rates down to almost zero.