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The role of psychological distress in provoking and exacerbating IBD is controversial. This Viewpoint discusses the role of psychological factors in the pathogenesis of IBD and focuses on the need for including psychological care in the clinical management of patients with IBD.
Pathogenic intestinal protozoa are responsible for clinically important infections in both the developed and developing world. Treatments have been available for several decades for giardiasis, isosporiasis and amoebiasis, but until recently there were no effective remedies for the intestinal coccidia—cyptosporidium, microsporidium and cyclospora. In this Review, the author discusses the various pathogenic intestinal protozoa and the treatment options available.
The treatment of chronic hepatitis B has improved substantially in recent years. FDA-approved therapies now include interferon α, pegylated interferon α2a, lamivudine, adefovir dipivoxil, and entecavir. Other antiviral agents and combination regimens are in various stages of development. This Review summarizes the results obtained for approved therapies and highlights emerging antiviral agents for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B.
Cholangiocarcinoma is, in most cases, rapidly fatal, having an inadequate response to the treatment strategies currently available. The authors of this Review describe the mechanism of action, efficacy and complications of photodynamic therapy—a relatively new local, minimally invasive treatment for cholangiocarcinoma that uses the photo-physical properties of photosensitizers to destroy tumors.
