About 8% of people, at least in Western countries, are born with the pancreas in two pieces, so called “pancreas divisum”. It is about as common as left-handedness, and ten times that of red hair. How come, and who cares? Some technical stuff to get started. The human pancreas is formed from two parts which…
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Nagi Reddy, superstar founder and chair of the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology in Hyderabad will zoom speak on ESWL of Biliary and Pancreatic stones at our weekly MUSC grand rounds this wednesday at 7 am EST. He has by far the greatest experience in the world. Not to be missed…. Access free at https://musccom.zoom.us/j/98701987401?pwd=UjhFaTAxYnFEaFArcFRqc0V6VUVaUT09
I am fortunate that my career has taken me to more than 50 countries. I am often asked for my favorite city, which one I would most like to revisit. Leaving aside my home now in USA, and my roots in England, my choices are much influenced by where I have friends (especially those with…
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Boxing day was cool (10 degrees), so I wore plus twos over my pants, added a jumper and topped it off with my mackintosh, wellies and balaclava. There was not enough snow for sledging, so I left my toboggan behind. I dusted snow off the car bonnet and bumpers and drove down the pavement to…
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One of my readers (I hope that there may be more than one) chastised me recently for using the American word “gotten” in my latest blog. It is not in common usage in my native England, although some do refer to “ill-gotten gains”. Maybe “forgotten” and even “woe-begotten” are also somehow connected? Who said “two…
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Many gastroenterologists practicing today may not know that there was once a British Society for Digestive Endoscopy (BSDE). It folded in 1980. What was it, why, and what happened to it? The flexible endoscopy revolution started in the late 60s and blossomed in the 70s. Before that happened, the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) had…
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My gastroenterologist readers, if any, (thank you) may recall that I led the team that developed a research study called EPISOD (Evaluating Predictors and Interventions in Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction). The results were published in 2014 (Cotton PB, Durkalski V, Romagnuolo J, et al. A multicenter, randomized trial of endoscopic sphincterotomy for suspected sphincter of…
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Delighted to confirm that my 6th book about Fred and friends is now available at booksellers and Amazon in hardback, soft cover and ebook versions Signed and personalized copies are available here on this web site Enjoy their fun adventures, including a scary moment when white water rafting
Some may remember that I posted a piece called “Thinking about placebos and healing”. I thought it was just a few months ago, but it was actually in November 2018. It was stimulated by my surprise and confusion about the fact that most patients undergoing sham procedures in my EPISOD research study did remarkably well,…
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Some of the adventures I have recounted in recent months happened while I was on the Consultant staff of The Middlesex Hospital in London (1973-86). You may wonder about the name, which could be misunderstood. It was called The Middlesex because it was in the County of Middlesex, now part of the city of London.…
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