Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
IBS is a debilitating chronic condition that substantially affects quality of life. Dietary management of IBS has garnered much interest, with dietary restriction of fermentable carbohydrates (the so-called low FODMAP diet) being explored as an approach to manage gastrointestinal symptoms in IBS. Here, the authors introduce the concept of fermentable carbohydrate restriction, providing an overview of the underlying mechanisms, efficacy and clinical application of this approach.
Transition of adolescents and young adults with IBD from paediatric to adult-focused health-care systems can be difficult, and care is needed to avoid breaks in continuity of care and negative effects on patient health. Here, Zeisler and Hyams provide a comprehensive overview of transitional care in paediatric IBD.
Thrombosis of the portal venous system is a frequent and potentially life-threatening condition. Here, the authors discuss how imaging can provide assistance to physicians involved in this decision-making process in different clinical settings including liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.
2013 saw several advances in small bowel endoscopy: new 3D visualization software, increased battery life, side-viewing cameras and higher frame rate. Studies on prokinetics for patient preparation, safety in the elderly, rebleeding after negative capsule endoscopy and defining optimum training requirements for fellows were encouraging. Procedure time and small bowel length evaluated by double-balloon and spiral endoscopy were shown to be comparable.
This Review outlines the nomenclature of addiction to alcohol and details how patients who drink to excess should be assessed for liver transplantation. Michael Lucey also explores the controversies about predicting future drinking behaviour and offering liver transplantation to patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis.
Despite the proven and often clinically marked efficacy of anti-TNF drugs for IBD, these biologic agents are not immune to treatment failures. Tailoring anti-TNF treatment in IBD mandates considerations of the different clinical scenarios in which therapy failure might occur while bearing in mind an opposite group of patients in whom intensive therapy might be unnecessary.
