Sex and a Stoma Question: My wife recently underwent surgery for ulcerative colitis and now has a temporary ileostomy. While we have talked a little bit about starting to have sex again, we’re both rather scared about doing this. Are there things I/we can do to make this easier? Answer: Resuming sexual activity after ostomy [...]
Stoma Shape Question: My Stoma Seems to be Changing Size/Shape. Is This Normal? Answer: Changes to the size and shape of a stoma can occur with both new and established stomas. Multiple factors can contribute to these alterations. Changes to the size and shape of a new stoma are normal during the post-operative period. Initially, [...]
Understanding Research Behind the Scenes with Amgen © Amgen While the GI Society’s major focus is on awareness, knowledge transfer, and patient advocacy, our sister charity, the Canadian Society of Intestinal Research, has supported research projects with more than a million dollars. A major fundraising event, such as a walk-a-thon, golf marathon, [...]
Product Review Just a Drop® is Just the thing for GI Sufferers Just a Drop® is an air freshening product developed to block (rather than mask or overpower) bathroom odours. It contains a combination of concentrated plant extracts that work to neutralize odours by forming an instant, deodorizing barrier on the surface of the toilet [...]
Help for Overweight Children The balance between different species of bacteria in the gut can affect human health in many ways that we are only beginning to discover. Most of us know that introducing certain harmful bacteria can cause illness, such as gastroenteritis, but subtler changes in bacterial balance can affect seemingly unrelated aspects of [...]
The Brain-Gut-Microbiome Axis How researchers now have more than just a ‘gut feeling’ Biology is like a ball of string; as researchers unravel one aspect of the vast bundle that constitutes their field of work, they reach another tangle. To cope with this complexity – and as scientific understanding advances – scientists and physicians have [...]
What is an Anti-Inflammatory Diet? What is an anti-inflammatory diet? There is currently no widely-accepted definition but three examples are plant-based diets, the Mediterranean diet, and the Okinawan diet. The good news is that you do not need to follow any of these diets if you don’t want to. There are so many anti-inflammatory foods [...]
Flying with Obesity The process and experience of flying with an extra seat for people with obesity I am writing to discuss what flying domestic is like in Canada for a person living with obesity. To do so, an individual must request an extra seat for the flight from the airlines. Therefore, my focus will [...]
Carbonated Water May Help Dyspepsia & Constipation Although people have used sparkling water to ‘settle’ the stomach for centuries, its influence on the gastrointestinal system has been poorly investigated. To see if anecdotal reports of the effectiveness of carbonated water held up under clinical examination, researchers from Italy put it to the test. In this [...]
AJ Leveille - Life After Surgery The terms ostomy, urostomy, colostomy, and stoma, are all words that many people have heard, but don’t really understand until they are faced with the reality of needing one. For the most part, the diseases that involve our waste are generally kept quiet in our society. People are happy [...]
Hands Off Our Genes The legislation of Bill S-201, the Genetic Non-Discrimination Act in Canada Genetic assessments allow individuals to take a peek at what their DNA contains and to look for unique genetic markers, potential health risks, drug sensitivities, hereditary conditions, and ancestry. As more individuals gain access to these tests, Canadians have growing [...]
Co-Managing IBD & Arthritis: A Complex Prescription Gastroenterologists and rheumatologists discuss patients who have conditions spanning both specialties: those with inflammatory bowel disease and spondyloarthropathy. Inflammatory Bowel Disease Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a general term for two main bowel diseases: Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Both are idiopathic inflammatory conditions that affect the gastrointestinal [...]
Support the GI Society at darelle.com We’re excited to introduce you to darelle.com, a cause-driven online marketplace designed to bring buyers, sellers, and charities together. It works by letting shoppers request the things they want, called Buy Requests. Businesses can then make Offers, and when transactions occur, darelle.com donates to Charity. It is that simple. [...]
Be Kind to Yourself We sometimes experience difficult feelings such as anger, fear, panic, or powerlessness as dangerous, unsettling, embarrassing, inconvenient, untrustworthy, and confusing. However, we often don’t understand these feelings or know what to do with them. We often say negative things to ourselves, such as I hate feeling this way; I don’t have [...]
I Spy IBS in Your Urine Scientists have discovered chemical signatures, or biomarkers, in urine that are associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This signifies not only great potential for the development of accurate and less invasive diagnostic tools, but may also provide new mechanistic insights into the pathology of IBS.1 Plagued with symptoms of [...]
Dangerous Food Bacteria Are Here To Stay It seems that dangerous bacteria are going to be a problem in our food supply for a long time. Microbes already present in North America’s food supply are mutating into new, more resilient forms while new contaminants are arriving in imported products. The best way to protect yourself [...]
Linking Celiac Disease and Osteoporosis A US study, published in the medical journal, Archives of Internal Medicine1, in 2006, suggests that all osteoporotic patients should undergo testing for celiac disease. Celiac disease is a medical condition affecting about 1 in 133 Canadians, where the ingestion of gluten (a protein found in wheat) triggers an abnormal [...]
Product Review Functional Gastrointestinal Relief Possible Two functional gastrointestinal conditions, perhaps related, are functional dyspepsia (FD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Many patients with either of these conditions also experience symptoms of the other condition. For example, in one survey of patients with IBS, 87% developed symptoms of dyspepsia,1 and in another, more than 50% [...]
Ways to Donate We need your ongoing support to continue to help the millions of Canadians who live with gastrointestinal disease and disorders and for those who want to maintain a healthy digestive tract. The GI Society guards donor dollars rigorously, ensuring maximum yield. Your donations help to support: High-quality, up-to-date printed information and educational [...]
The Future of Celiac Disease One day, celiac sufferers could consume gluten with the help of a pill Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that occurs when a substance in gluten, called gliadin, triggers an unusual immune response in the gastrointestinal tract. It leads to flattening and altering of the millions of microscopic finger-like projections [...]
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