Researchers from Bristol Hospital’s Connecticut Gastroenterology Institute shared in a landmark study into the effectiveness of new treatments for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), some of which the institute developed.
The study was published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
IBS is the most common gastrointestinal disorder in the U.S., affecting more than 15 percent of the population, the hospital said. The study concludes that, for the first time, there are new effective treatments for the tens of millions of Americans who suffer from IBS.
Dr. Salam F. Zakko, executive director of the institute, participated with other research centers in the study. Among them: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the University of Michigan Health System, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill whose principal investigators.
The Connecticut Gastroenterology Institute (CGI) claims to be the only center in Connecticut to offer the unique, leading-edge research and advanced treatment options available in the field of gastroenterology.
“Research at this level is unprecedented at community hospitals,” Bristol Hospital CEO Kurt A. Barwis said in a statement praising Zakko’s work.
Zakko and his CGI team are internationally recognized for successfully treating thousands of patients with symptoms of IBS from throughout the region over the past 20 years, Barwis said.
His team pioneered many state-of-the-art, non-invasive procedures, including the use of pill endoscopy to diagnose small bowel disorders, he said.
