[September 30, 2004] Pediatric Gastroenterologists Launch Family GERD Week FLOURTOWN, Pa. and SAN MATEO, Calif., Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The Children's Digestive Health and Nutrition Foundation (CDHNF) with the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) announced that September 27-October 1, 2004 is Family GERD Week. This campaign will educate medical professionals, parents and patients about Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease or GERD, more commonly known as heartburn or acid reflux, a condition which affects approximately 10 percent of the U.S. adult population and an increasing number of children. In the past several years, there have been a number of research studies suggesting that GERD may be an inherited disease. Family GERD Week is being kicked-off with the release of findings from a survey of 200 pediatricians and family practitioners to determine their understanding of the possible genetic basis for GERD. The survey was conducted by CDHNF in partnership with ePocrates, Inc., using the ePocrates Honors Market Research Panel. The survey revealed that 89 percent of the physicians surveyed believe that GERD may be an inherited condition, and over 70 percent of respondents also recognize that serious complications from heartburn, such as erosive esophagitis, Barrett's esophagus and esophageal cancer, also likely have an inherited basis. However, only 48 percent of respondents routinely inquire about family history. The survey clearly showed that while the genetic relationship of these diseases is still being studied, it is necessary for physicians to be more cognizant of family history when diagnosing patients with GERD. "Properly recognizing GERD is extremely important because if left untreated, it can have serious long-term complications for children and adults," said Mark A. Gilger, M.D., FAAP, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital. "This is why Family GERD Week and the campaign are so important. To determine physicians' recognition of GERD versus similar digestive disorders, CDHNF also asked physicians about their understanding of eosinophilic esophagitis (EE), also known as allergic esophagitis, a rapidly emerging digestive disease. A third of practitioners surveyed felt this condition was related to heartburn, while more than half were unsure. "The lack of recognition of EE among physicians and the potential for confusing it with GERD indicates a need for additional research and continuing medical education. The reason that we included EE in the survey is to increase awareness that it must be recognized and treated differently than GERD," added Dr. Gilger. In recognition of the limited understanding of the genetics of GERD and other digestive diseases identified in the survey findings, NASPGHAN and CDHNF plan to expand their public awareness campaign to include new educational and research programs directed at both medical practitioners and the general public to increase awareness and understanding of the genetics behind these types of diseases. During Family GERD Week, CDHNF and the campaign's Parent Advisory Board will unveil new consumer materials, such as a Parent-to-Parent section on the CDHNF web site, http://www.cdhnf.org/, a parent/patient video, interactive games, and a coloring book for children. The campaign features three web sites, which provide information for medical professionals, parents, teens and kids -- http://www.cdhnf.org/, http://www.kidsacidreflux.org/, http://www.teensacidreflux.org/. "The survey indicated that we need to provide medical professionals with as much information as possible about GERD. As a result, ePocrates has teamed up with CDHNF to distribute the campaign's educational resources to over 140,000 medical professionals via their DocAlert service," commented Dr. Gilger. In support of Family GERD week, ePocrates is leveraging its strong subscriber base using DocAlert(R) messaging to issue NASPGHAN/CDHNF's pediatric GERD clinical guidelines summary and other educational resources to health providers nationwide. Through this DocAlert(R) technology, medical professionals will be able to save the guidelines summary to their hand-held device and request additional information via e-mail. "ePocrates' corporate commitment to enhancing patient care and safety is clearly aligned with supporting the education goals of NASPGHAN and CDHNF. Our subscribers look to us for access to the latest, most up-to-date information on drugs and diseases and value receiving timely updates such as that provided through this campaign. We are pleased to support this effort," said Kirk Loevner, ePocrates CEO. The NASPGHAN and CDHNF survey was conducted through the ePocrates Honors market research panel which enables healthcare professionals to "opt-in" to participate in studies. Typically, this research consists of online surveys that take between 10 to 45 minutes to complete. Criteria to participate vary by study. In exchange for their participation, users receive an honorarium. Over 45 of the nation's major market research companies conduct hundreds of studies annually by accessing the industry leading ePocrates Honors panel of more than 111,000 opted-in U.S. physicians and 231,000 allied healthcare professionals including physician assistants, nurse practitioners, RNs, dentists, pharmacists and others. About NASPGHAN and CDHNF: The North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, founded in 1972, is the only society in North America and the largest in the world, dedicated to serving the Pediatric Gastroenterology and nutrition communities. NASPGHAN was established to advance the understanding of the normal development and physiology of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and liver in infants, children, and adolescents, and to foster the dissemination of this knowledge through scientific meetings, professional education, public education, and interaction with other organizations concerned with Pediatric Gastroenterology and nutrition. Visit our website at http://www.naspghan.org/. The Children's Digestive Health and Nutrition Foundation was established in 1998 by NASPGHAN. CDHNF is the leading physician source of information on pediatric gastrointestinal, liver and nutritional issues. CDHNF is dedicated to improving the care of infants, children and adolescents with digestive disorders by promoting advances in clinical care, research and education. In addition to the pediatric GERD education campaign, CDHNF also leads a campaign on Celiac Disease. Additional information on CDHNF and its campaigns can be found at http://www.cdhnf.org/. About ePocrates, Inc.: San Mateo, CA -based ePocrates Inc. is the leader in providing clinical information to physicians and other health care professionals at the point of care, with over 350,000 subscribers, including over 165,000 U.S. physicians. ePocrates' product offering is led by the ePocrates(R) Essentials mobile clinical reference suite featuring all of the key decision support applications -- drugs, diseases, and diagnostics -- required for today's health care professional. The ePocrates Rx(R) and ePocrates Rx Pro(TM) drug reference products are the most widely used in the industry, by individual clinicians and by medical groups, hospitals, universities and medical libraries throughout the U.S. ePocrates also provides formulary information from health plans, hospitals, Medicaid agencies and pharmacy benefit management (PBM) companies that represent over 95 million individuals, and messaging, market research and clinical trial recruitment services. For more information, visit http://www.epocrates.com/. ePocrates, Inc. CONTACT: Katherine Thornberry, ePocrates Public Relations,+1-650-227-1713, or [email protected]; or Gabi Chojkier of CDHNF,+1-202-974-5012, or [email protected] Web site: http://www.naspghan.org/ Web site: http://www.cdhnf.org/ Web site: http://www.epocrates.com/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]