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some doctors are now warning that bariatic surgery - which jumped 40% in frequency in 2005 from the year before - can increase a patient's risk of a rare, yet serious neurological condition called Wernicke's encephalopathy. A result of a vitamin B deficiency (no doubt spurred by the poor digestion that removal of large portions of the stomach and intestine can cause), this condition can cause confusion and impaired coordination, memory, and vision.

Early Europeans unable to stomach milk 22:00 26 February 2007 NewScientist.com news service Roxanne Khamsi Researchers analysing the DNA in Neolithic human remains claim to have uncovered the first direct evidence that modern humans have evolved changes in response to natural selection. Just 7000 years ago, Europeans were unable to digest milk, according to a new analysis of fossilised bone samples – nowadays more than 90% of this population can. Europeans must have incurred a rapid change in their genetic make-up because it held an evolutionary advantage for them to be able to digest milk, says Mark Thomas at University...

Source: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Date: February 8, 2007 Prehistoric Origins Of Stomach Ulcers Uncovered Science Daily — An international team of scientists has discovered that the ubiquitous bacteria that causes most painful stomach ulcers has been present in the human digestive system since modern man migrated from Africa over 60,000 years ago. The research, published online (7 February) by the journal Nature, not only furthers our understanding of a disease causing bacteria but also offers a new way to study the migration and diversification of early humans. A cell of H.pylori, a bacterial pathogen of the human...

Source: Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research Date: January 30, 2007 Salmonella Survives Better In Stomach Due To Altered DNA Science Daily — Since 1995 there has been a considerable increase in the number of infections with a specific type of Salmonella bacteria transmitted via food. This type, Salmonella serovar Typhimurium DT104, is resistant to at least five different antibiotics. Dutch researcher Armand Hermans found new genetic information in DNA of DT104 that might be involved in its survival and infection mechanism. This genetic information might also be involved in the increase in the number of infections caused by this pathogen....

The 322-pound, redmeat-loving Dorchester dad who stuffed his face with pizza, steak tips, prime rib and fast food in a final fling before stomach-shrinking surgery, found out yesterday that the gravy train has reached the end of the line. His surgeon won’t operate until he drops 40 pounds and gains some new perspective. “It couldn’t have went any worse,” said Chris “Tiger” Stockbridge, 34, who claims he’s a changed man, finally ready to follow doctor’s orders and submit to a life of oatmeal, salad and fish, if that’s what it takes. “I felt a little bit ashamed of myself,” he...

Cats and dogs protect kids from stomach bugs 11:43 15 September 2006 NewScientist.com news service Matt Kaplan Pets can protect their young owners against common stomach bugs, according to new research. Jane Heyworth at the University of Western Australia in Crawley, and colleagues found that incidences of gastroenteritis – commonly called stomach flu – were significantly lower in young children living in homes with pets, than those living without. For six weeks, the team closely observed 965 children aged four to six, noting incidences of nausea, diarrhoea, and vomiting. Children that had a cat or dog in their household were...

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Mike Slabaugh doesn't have a stomach. Neither do his 10 cousins. Growing up, they watched helplessly as a rare hereditary stomach cancer killed their grandmother and some of their parents, aunts and uncles. Determined to outsmart the cancer, they turned to genetic testing. Upon learning they had inherited grandmother Golda Bradfield's flawed gene, they had two options: Risk the odds that they might not develop cancer, with a 70 percent chance they would; or have their stomachs removed. The latter would mean a challenging life of eating very little, very often. All the cousins chose...

The Bill they can't stomachVoting Clinton's boyhood home a historic site too much for these 12 angry lawmakers By William Neikirk Tribune senior correspondent Published March 11, 2006 WASHINGTON -- Congress usually approves designation of a former president's boyhood home as a national historic site without much controversy. But this is Bill Clinton. The former president still raises the hackles of some Republicans and could be the first first man if his wife, Hillary, should be elected president. A dozen Republican House lawmakers voted against a bill this week to name the former president's birthplace a national historic site and...

The elimination of Helicobacter pylori from the stomach decreases the risk of people with gastric or duodenal ulcers developing stomach cancer, according to the findings of a research group led by a Hiroshima City Hospital doctor. The findings were revealed in this month's issue of Gastroenterology, the journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. Helicobacter pylori is a bacteria believed to cause gastric or duodenal ulcers. It is treated with antibiotics and other medicines. The research group, led by Motoo Mizuno, head of the hospital's endoscopy department, studied 1,120 patients with gastric or duodenal ulcers and prescribed treatment to eliminate the...

When 12-year-old Hannah Scott began middle school last year, she was so nervous that her stomach was not just in knots, it was in serious pain. "It would start in the morning when I'd leave the house," said Hannah, a thin wisp of a girl with light brown freckles and long sandy hair. "And when I got to school, it was really, really bad. I'd go to the nurse every other day, and be sent home." When the bellyaches persisted for months, Hannah's parents took her to a pediatric gastroenterologist, who ordered tests, including X-rays, a colonoscopy and an endoscopy,...

Towns along Maine's southern coast are used to the mighty ocean washing animal bones and body parts onto their shores. But the 10-pound stomach, discovered Sunday in the water off Colony Beach in Kennebunkport, was a surprise. "Everybody has their own theory about how it got there, but basically, it was a pile of slop that washed in the same weekend as a hurricane off the coast," said Kennebunk Detective Troy Thibodeau. In the summer, police receive calls about bones on the beach discovered by tourists and other beachgoers. In the fall, it's bones found in the woods by hunters....

Let us spend a few moments contemplating naked chicks. Naked Dixie Chicks, to be exact, meaning the country music trio from Texas whose Natalie Maines has become more famous for something she said than for anything she ever sang. If you're not familiar with what she said, well . . . Welcome back. And how are things on Antarctica? Not as cold, I would wager, as they have been for the Chicks ever since they came out against the war in Iraq in March. Specifically, Maines told a London audience, ''We're ashamed that the president of the United States is...

Stomach ulcers draw a map of human migration By Deborah Smith, Science Writer March 10 2003 The germ that causes stomach ulcers has been a constant travelling companion throughout tens of thousands of years of human migration. From the arrival of the first farmers in Europe to the more recent slave trade out of Africa, the tiny spiral bacterium Helicobacter pylori has been hitching a ride inside the travellers' guts, new research shows. Now the bug could help reveal details about these ancient movements of people. A genetic analysis of the bacteria found in the stomachs of 27 groups of...

Cannabis poses a greater threat to health than tobacco, lung experts have warned. The warning comes on the day that Home Secretary David Blunkett is due to make a Commons statement about the future of government drug policy. Many young people are simply not aware that smoking cannabis may put them at increased risk of respiratory cancers and infections . Dame Helena Shovelton: The Home Affairs Select Committee has recommended that cannabis is downgraded from a class B drug to class C. This would mean that possession would lead to a caution, rather than arrest. The British Lung Foundation is...