Snorri Olafsson

Loma Linda University · Division of Gastroenterology

Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is the most common cause of dry eye disease (DED). In this study, we aimed to compare the effects of eyelid warming treatment using either TheraPearl Eye Mask (Bausch & Lomb Inc., New York, USA) or Blephasteam (Spectrum Thea Pharmaceuticals LTD, Macclesfield, UK) in a Norwegian population with mild to moderate MGD-...

Purpose: Dry eye (DED) is a multifactorial disease of the ocular surface in which ocular surface inflammation and damage play etiological roles. In the present study, we compared symptoms and signs in patients with DED treated with 0.1% Cyclosporine A (CsA) cationic emulsion (Ikervis, Santen) and 0.05% CsA anionic emulsion (Restasis, Allergan). Met...

Placement of a covered self‐expandable metal stent when primary surgery had failed to close the duodenal ulcer perforation or as a primary modality is a promising procedure when compared to other currently available types of surgical rescue or intervention. Placement of a covered self‐expandable metal stent when primary surgery had failed to close...

Background: Fatty liver is an important cause of chronic hepatic problems in today's world. We document the retrospective effect that an 18 day medical residential lifestyle program in Weimar, CA had on these patients. Methods: The patients were prescribed lifestyle interventions in the form of increased exercise, adequate hydration, abstinence fr...

Background: We document the effect that an 18 day program had on individuals with chronic hepatitis B and C. Methods: Blood work and a treadmill stress test which calculated MetS were collected at baseline and completion of an 18-day medical lifestyle residential program. The program applied interventions that can be summarized as “NEWSTART”: Nutr...

Background Many hepatitis C positive individuals are known to experience depression symptoms. Lifestyle changes have been documented to help individuals suffering from depression. We are reporting how exercise therapy is able to help participants with hepatitis C during an 8-week depression program. Methods The 8-week depression program is run in v...

Background: From 1994 to 2012, after the state of Oklahoma and the nursing board approved the nurse-administered propofol as the main sedation method, nearly 50,000 endoscopic procedures were performed in a small community GI lab in the Midwest. Methods: We randomly sampled 1,011 endoscopic procedures done between 2010 and 2012 from the data base o...

Background Hepatitis C positivity has been associated with a depressed mood and major depression. Some patients would like non-pharmacological methods to help them with their depression. Lifestyle interventions have had success in the depressed. We are reporting on how such education program helped individuals with hepatitis C. Methods The program...

Background The GI lab in a community hospital in the small town of Ardmore, Oklahoma, was one of the few places in America where registered nurses, under the supervision of an endoscopist, have been administering propofol in approximately 50,000 GI procedures without an anesthesiologist since 1994. At the end of 2012 a change in hospital policy req...

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) testing in patients with bleeding ulcers is recommended by society guidelines and considered a quality indicator. The aim of the study is to examine the proportion of patients with bleeding ulcers who had H. pylori testing and identify predictors associated with H. pylori testing. Consecutive hospitalized patients wi...

Background Most hospitals in the United States require involvement of an anesthesiologist or CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist) when propofol is administered to patients, which adds to the cost of the procedure. Mercy Memorial Hospital, in Ardmore, Oklahoma, is one of the few places in the USA where registered nurses have been administeri...

BACKGROUND: It is known that plant based diets have a positive effect on blood lipids. This study investigated whether a change from the Standard American Diet to a plant based diet in an area with a very poor selection of fruits and vegetables can be effective in lowering the lipid profile. The study was conducted in San Felipe, Mexico, a desert l...

Among available tests to detect Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), urea breath test (UBT) is the most accurate when performed correctly in research protocols with unknown validity in clinic settings. A total of 595 subjects at a gastroenterology clinic were tested 620 times with UBT. Detailed information about three known factors (recent proton-pump...

Meckel's diverticulum (MD) is the most common congenital anomaly of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The diagnosis of symptomatic MD has been cumbersome. Several case reports been published regarding direct visualization of MD with double balloon enteroscopy (DBE); diagnosing a bleeding MD leading to surgical resection. We report the use of DBE for...

BACKGROUND: The water method decreases patient discomfort and sedation requirement. Applicability in non-veteran community settings in the United States (U.S.) has not been reported. AIMS: Our aim is to perform a pilot study to establish feasibility of use the water method at 2 community sites. We tested the hypothesis that compared with air insuff...

Performing a complete colonoscopy to the cecum is important for ruling out malignancy and other lesions, but failure rates are significant with a standard colonoscope. A previous study using a push enteroscope for failed colonoscopies had a completion rate of 68.7%. To improve the cecal intubation rate by using a newer version of a push enteroscope...

Pain limits the success of cecal intubation in unsedated patient. Carbon dioxide infusion instead of air insufflation and water infusion as an adjunction to air insufflation have both been investigated as modalities to minimize pain associated with colonoscopy. Multiple RCT support an effect of carbon dioxide in reducing pain after colonoscopy. A m...

To assess the tolerability and safety of same-day tandem procedures, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) followed by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) under conscious sedation. A retrospective review was conducted at Loma Linda University Medical Center, a tertiary-care center. All 54 patients who underwent EUS followed by ERCP (group A...

The fact that colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer mortality in the United States emphasizes the need for more effective preventive and therapeutic modalities. There is growing evidence that vitamin D may reduce the incidence of CRC. Results of epidemiologic, in vitro, in vivo animal and clinical studies suggest that a low...

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a frequent cause of morbidity and mortality among elderly hospitalized patients. A small but increasing number of patients have developed fulminant CDI, and a significant number of these patients require emergency colectomy. In this review, we discuss the risk factors, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and managem...

The aim of this study was to examine the lifestyle of adult patients with abdominal discomfort (i.e., diarrhea, bloating, pain, and irregular defecation) self-attributed to food hypersensitivity and compare it with controls to see if the patients had a special lifestyle explaining their symptoms. Forty-six participants in this study were adult ethn...

The aim of our study was to examine gastric function, gallbladder emptying, and dyspepsia in symptomatic gallbladder stone patients (SGBS) to see if a motility disorder, expressed by gastric function and gallbladder emptying, may cause dyspepsia in SBGS. Gastric function and gallbladder emptying in 21 SGBS referred for surgical treatment were measu...

The cardinal indication for surgical treatment of gallstones is pain attacks. However, following cholecystectomy, 20% of patients remain symptomatic. It is unclear to what extent post-cholecystectomy symptoms can be ascribed to persistence of preoperative symptoms or to new pathology. The pain and digestive pattern in gallstone patients has not bee...

The aim of this study was to investigate quality of life and applicability of the 10-item short form of the Nepean Dyspepsia Index (SF-NDI) in patients with subjective food hypersensitivity. Fifty-two adult patients and 120 controls were examined using three questionnaires: Quality of life Nepean Dyspepsia Index (NDI), Gastrointestinal Symptom Rati...

To what extent fibromyalgia belongs to affective spectrum disorders or anxiety spectrum disorders remains disputed. Buspirone induces a hypothermic response, which most likely is due to 5-HT(1A) autoreceptor stimulation, and growth hormone (GH) release, which probably is related to postsynaptic 5-HT(1A) receptor stimulation. The prolactin response...

It is known that patients with peptic ulcer disease (PUD) often have an unhealthy lifestyle that results in increased mortality because of smoking-related diseases. No thorough study has been done to see what changes, if any, the patient makes to lifestyle after eradication of Helicobacter pylori. One-hundred-and-eighty-three patients were enrolled...

It is well documented that dyspepsia in patients with peptic ulcer disease (PUD) improves markedly after eradication of Helicobacter pylori, while rarely does it improve in patients with functional dyspepsia. There is a large group of H. pylori-infected patients who do not qualify for either diagnosis, but in whom eradication may be considered. The...

We hypothesized that a substantial proportion of the subjectively experienced variance in pain in fibromyalgia patients would be explained by psychological factors alone, but that a combined model, including neuroendocrine and autonomic factors, would give the most parsimonious explanation of variance in pain. Psychometric assessment included McGil...

Patients with functional dyspepsia often have meal-induced dyspeptic symptoms and low vagal tone. We examined whether these variables are related in healthy subjects. In 40 healthy subjects vagal tone and abdominal symptoms were recorded before and after a 500-ml soup meal ingested in 1 and 4 min on separate visits. Vagal tone was indexed by respir...

Even in the absence of visible lesions like an ulcer, cancer or oesophagitis, patients with functional dyspepsia may complain of severe dyspeptic symptoms and have a poor quality of life. Characteristically, these patients also often have a low estimate of their own health and have complaints from several organ systems. The cause of the disease is...

Even in the absence of visible lesions like an ulcer, cancer or oesophagitis, patients with functional dyspepsia may complain of severe dyspeptic symptoms and have a poor quality of life. Characteristically, these patients also often have a low estimate of their own health and have complaints from several organ systems. The cause of the disease is...

We compared ICD-10 psychiatric disorders in female patients with fibromyalgia (n=45) or functional dyspepsia (n=18) with age-matched random sample controls (n=49). Version 2 of The Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) was used for present state examination and lifetime diagnoses. Current psychiatric disorders (somatoform pain...

We wanted to ascertain how Helicobacter pylori infection is managed in Scandinavia. A one-page questionnaire with seven questions was mailed in April 1998 to 1718 gastroenterologists in Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (excluding Swedish surgeons). The questionnaire was returned by 36%. Antimicrobials were used by 99% for peptic ulcer associate...

In patients with low-grade reflux oesophagitis adequate symptom control is the aim of treatment. Effervescent tablets alleviate heartburn more rapidly than ordinary tablets. To investigate symptom control, patient satisfaction, health-related quality of life and disease progress when ranitidine 150 mg effervescent tablets were offered as on demand...

We have consistently achieved about 90% eradication of H. pylori with liquid bismuth, metronidazole and oxytetracycline. To test eradication and adverse events of ranitidine bismuth citrate (RBC) when given with metronidazole and either oxytetracycline or spiramycin. One hundred and eighty-three patients were randomized to one of four 10-day regime...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and precision of a magnetic position sensor system for acquisition of three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound images in volume estimation of phantoms in vitro. Installation of either 0.9% solution of saline at 37 degrees C or distilled water at 20 degrees C to a condom was performed. Scanning was p...

Following cholecystectomy for uncomplicated gallstone disease (GS) some patients experience persistent symptoms suggesting an underlying functional disorder. To study this phenomenon, we have compared symptomatic GS with functional dyspepsia (FD) patients and healthy individuals (C) with respect to putative pathogenetic mechanisms. Gallbladder and...

At the Medical Department, Telemark Central Hospital, a project has been going on for five years now to evaluate consultations in lifestyle groups in preference to individual consultations for persons with dyslipidemia. 363 persons were recruited to participate in a series of 5 group consultations at intervals of 3 months, each session to last for...

180 Helicobacter pylori-positive patients with peptic ulcer disease were randomly allocated to double-blind placebo-controlled treatment with one of four anti-H. pylori regimens consisting of bismuth subnitrate suspension (B), oxytetracycline (OT), metronidazole (M)/metronidazole placebo, or ranitidine (R)/ranitidine placebo. Regimen 1: B 150 mg q....

Eradication of H. pylori cures peptic ulcer disease. Bismuth and antibiotics in various combinations were tested at a single university hospital. The standard treatment was bismuth subnitrate, metronidazole and oxytetracycline. A positive biopsy urease test was the main inclusion criterium, whereas a negative 14C-urea breath test performed at least...

This is an old article, from 1991, but is still topical and relevant. It reports cases of chlorine gas poisoning from the chemical reaction that occurs if a strong acidic cleaning agent such as phosphoric acid is mixed with bleach. It also warns that if bleach is mixed with ammonia products, chloramines will be released, which are also toxic. The o...