DESIGN: 1805 consecutive unselected patients with FGID who presented for primary or secondary care to 11 centres across Asia completed a cultural and linguistic adaptation of the Rome III Diagnostic Questionnaire that was translated to the local languages. Principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to identify symptom clusters.
RESULTS: Nine symptom clusters were identified, consisting of two oesophageal factors (F6: globus, odynophagia and dysphagia; F9: chest pain and heartburn), two gastroduodenal factors (F5: bloating, fullness, belching and flatulence; F8 regurgitation, nausea and vomiting), three bowel factors (F2: abdominal pain and diarrhoea; F3: meal-related bowel symptoms; F7: upper abdominal pain and constipation) and two anorectal factors (F1: anorectal pain and constipation; F4: diarrhoea, urgency and incontinence).
CONCLUSION: We found that the broad categorisation used both in clinical practice and in the Rome system, that is, broad anatomical divisions, and certain diagnoses with long historical records, that is, IBS with diarrhoea, and chronic constipation, are still valid in our Asian societies. In addition, we found a bowel symptom cluster with meal trigger and a gas cluster that suggests a different emphasis in our populations. Future studies to compare a non-Asian cohort and to match to putative pathophysiology will help to verify our findings.
Methods: Key opinion leaders from Asian countries were organized into 4 teams to review 4 themes: symptoms and epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis and investigations, and lifestyle modifications and treatments. The consensus development process was carried out by using a modified Delphi method.
Results: Thirty-seven statements were developed. Asian data substantiate the current global viewpoint that IBS is a disorder of gut-brain interaction. Socio-cultural and environmental factors in Asia appear to influence the greater overlap between IBS and upper gastrointestinal symptoms. New classes of treatments comprising low fermentable oligo-, di-, monosacharides, and polyols diet, probiotics, non-absorbable antibiotics, and secretagogues have good evidence base for their efficacy.
Conclusions: Our consensus is that all patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders should be evaluated comprehensively with a view to holistic management. Physicians should be encouraged to take a positive attitude to the treatment outcomes for IBS patients.
Methods: The questionnaire was created and developed through a literature review of current gastroparesis works of literature by the scientific committee of Asian Neurogastroenterology and Motility Association.
Results: A total of 490 doctors from across Asia (including Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam) participated in the survey. Gastroparesis is a significant gastrointestinal condition. However, a substantial proportion of respondents was unable to give the correct definition and accurate diagnostic test. The main reason for lack of interest in diagnosing gastroparesis was "the lack of reliable diagnostic tests" (46.8%) or "a lack of effective treatment" (41.5%). Only 41.7% of respondents had access to gastric emptying scintigraphy. Most doctors had never diagnosed gastroparesis at all (25.2%) or diagnosed fewer than 5 patients a year (52.1%).
Conclusions: Gastroparesis can be challenging to diagnose due to the lack of instrument, standardized method, and paucity of research data on normative value, risk factors, and treatment studies in Asian patients. Future strategies should concentrate on how to disseminate the latest knowledge of gastroparesis in Asia. In particular, there is an urgent need to estimate the magnitude of the problems in high risk and idiopathic patients as well as a standardized diagnostic procedure in Asia.
METHODS: We performed a meta-analysis of three GWAS comprising 684 patients with type 2 diabetes and 955 controls of Southern Han Chinese descent. We followed up the top signals in two independent Southern Han Chinese cohorts (totalling 10,383 cases and 6,974 controls), and performed in silico replication in multiple populations.
RESULTS: We identified CDKN2A/B and four novel type 2 diabetes association signals with p