NDDIC News

What's New in CHID?

The Combined Health Information Database (CHID) is produced by health-related agencies of the Federal Government. This database provides the titles, abstracts, and availability of health information and health education resources. NDDIC maintains the digestive diseases section of the database, which includes information about books, pamphlets, videos, journal articles, and manuals on a variety of digestive disease topics. NDDIC continually adds new materials to CHID; following are brief examples of recent additions. To search CHID for materials on specific topics, go to http://chid.nih.gov.

American Gastroenterological Association
Nighttime Heartburn Relief Effort

Heartburn, or acid indigestion, is an all-too-common experience for many Americans. The burning sensation or pain in the chest from heartburn can extend from the breastbone and move upward to the neck and throat, often leaving a bitter or acid taste. This fact sheet describes an educational program from the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) called the Nighttime Heartburn Relief Effort. This program is designed to help professionals and patients understand the symptoms of nighttime heartburn and the importance of having any chronic symptoms diagnosed and treated. Using a number of communications vehicles including direct-to-consumer, Internet, and third-party components, the campaign reached health care professionals as well as consumer audiences with key messages about diagnosis and treatment of nighttime heartburn. The fact sheet lists the campaign's objectives, completed projects and available materials, and upcoming projects.

Available from American Gastroenterological Association, 4930 Del Ray Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814. 301–654–2055. Fax: 301–654–5920. Email: info@gastro.org. Website: www.gastro.org. Price: Contact organization for print copies.

Managing Inflammatory Bowel Disease

For reasons that are not altogether certain, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is affecting more and more Americans every year. In this videotape program from The Doctor Is In, Dr. Scott Plevy, formerly of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Dr. Susan Edwards, of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, seek to understand the spreading incidence of IBD. The doctors consider both Crohn's disease and colitis, the two primary forms of IBD, while describing pharmaceutical and surgical treatment options. The program includes case studies of two young women with IBD that focus on how they manage their debilitating conditions.

Available from Films for the Humanities and Sciences, PO Box 2053, Princeton, NJ 08543–2053. 1–800–257–5126. Fax: 609–275–3767. Website: www.films.com. Price: $129.95 for VHS; $154.95 for DVD, plus shipping and handling. Item number: BVL3009.

Biliary Atresia

This brochure describes biliary atresia, a condition in infants in which the bile duct outside the liver that carries bile from the liver to the small intestine is damaged. This prevents bile from leaving the liver so it accumulates and causes progressive damage to the liver tissue. In addition, there is ongoing damage to smaller bile ducts inside the liver. Unless bile flow can be established, liver function is gradually lost and affected children rarely survive beyond 2 years. The brochure describes the role of bile, the causes of the disease, the typical symptoms, treatment strategies (surgery called the Kasai procedure is usually the first option), secondary treatment options, complications of the disease, and the indications for liver transplantation in children with biliary atresia. The brochure concludes with the contact information of the Canadian Liver Foundation.

Available from Canadian Liver Foundation, Suite 1500, 2235 Sheppard Avenue East, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M2J 5B5. 416–491–3353 or 1–800–563–5483. Fax: 416–491–4952. Email: clf@liver.ca. Website: http://liver.ca. Price: Contact organization for print copies.

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NIH Publication No. 04–4552
May 2004