Articles
Infections and gastrointestinal symptoms
The clinical findings presented below have documented an extremely high rate of parasitic and bacterial infections in individuals with gastrointestinal symptoms. Thorough testing for parasitic and bacterial infections should be performed on everyone with chronic gastrointestinal symptoms.
ACG 2006: The American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting
Abstract Number: 1000
Contact Person: William P. Stuppy, MD
Department/Institution: Private Practice
Address: 637 Lucas Ave., #212
City/State/Zip/Country: Los Angeles, CA, 90017, United States
Phone: (323) 464-4242
Awards: No award selected
Abstract Categories: 7. Clinical Vignettes / 10. Functional Bowel Disorders
Presentation Preference: Either Oral or Poster Only
ACG Research Grant: No
Keywords: gastrointestinal infection, parasitosis, dysbiosis.
Title: Chronic Gastrointestinal Infections/Parasitosis in Clinical Practice
William P. Stuppy, MD. 1Private Practice, Los Angeles, California, United States.
Purpose: Patients seen in consultation for non-specific gastrointestinal complaints (foregut, midgut, and hindgut) with 'negative' endoscopies, stool for O&P, and abdominal ultrasound are often dismissed as 'functional' disorders. The purpose of this report is disclose the presence of chronic gastrointestinal infection/parasitosis in such a population over ten years of practice.
Methods: Patients (672) referred for non-specific gastrointestinal dysfunction were tested for the presence of infection/parasitosis. A combination of saliva (IgA and IgG), stool (microscopic and antigen detection by florescence microscopy) by Diagnos-Techs, Inc. are the subjects of this report.
Results:
NUMBER OF PATIENTS= 672
- Cryptosporidium parvum 243
- Amoeba histolytica 213
- Helicobacter pylori 212
- Giardia lambium 163
- C. difficile 114
- Blastocystis hominis 41
- Ascaris lumbricoides 64
- Tinea solium 32
- Trichinella spiralis 23
NUMBER OF INFECTIONS/PARASITES= 2210
Conclusion: Patients with chronic gastrointestinal complaints without demonstrable pathology by endoscopic or radiographic examination are likely to have infections/parasitosis. A third of these have more than one pathogen. A third of patients are spouses, 'significant others', children. This indicates person to person transmission is the primary path for these disorders and these conditions are grossly underestimated.
Disclosure:
My presentation will include discussion of commercial products or services.
I do not have a relevant financial relationship with the manufacturer(s)
Who initiated the research? Investigator
Reason for the research: was it for FDA approval or FDA treatment indication? No
Who designed the study? Investigator
Who performed the analyses? Investigator
Did the investigator contribute patients to the study? Yes
Who wrote the manuscript? Investigator
Are these the main results of the study? Yes
If no, are these the results of secondary analyses? No response.
Blake Graham, BSc (Honours), AACNEM
Clinical Nutritionist
Perth, Western Australia
Phone/Email: See Contact page
*Non-Perth residents may enquire about phone consultations.
