Mohammad F. Ali, MD

My interview with a local news channel regarding the importance of colon cancer screening. https://youtu.be/fSdS2zwFohg

Excited about this opportunity!

March is Colon Cancer awareness month. Please speak with your healthcare provider to determine if you need to be screened. #coloncancerawareness #colorectalcancer #screeningsaveslives #colonoscopy

Coming to a location near you...Please discuss with your healthcare provider.

Well deserved! We now have great treatment options for #HepatitisC. Please talk to your gastroenterologist for more information. #HepC #NoblePrize #medicine

Important guidelines! Achalasia is an esophageal motility disorder. Patients most commonly present with difficulty swallowing solids and liquids, regurgitation, and occasional chest pain with or without weight loss. If you have any of these symptoms, please reach out to our gastroenterologist for further evaluation and treatment. #achalasia #esophagus

THE NEW NORMAL My daughter started fourth grade this week. The expression time flies could not be more apropos. It feels just like yesterday when I dropped her off for the first day of pre-K. What was quite different this time was the preparation. Her mother packed her lunch because the school cafeteria will remain closed. Given that my daughter usually looked forward to hot school lunches, this was a big change. We were instructed to provide two bottles of water because the ...Continue reading

Great article showing a shared genetic risk between collagenous colitis and Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s disease, and Celiac disease. #ulcerativecolitis #crohnsdisease #collagenouscolitis #celiacdisease

Sharing from Dr. Pochapin. 1 in 5 patients with colorectal cancer under the age of 50 had a germline mutation. More importantly 50% of these patients did not have typical family history for that mutation. #coloncancer #familyhistory #cancerawareness

What a tragedy! I became a fan after watching the movie Black Panther. May his soul rest in peace. I would also like to take this opportunity to remind everyone of the need for colorectal cancer screening. Please remember society guidelines to start screening colonoscopies at the age of 45 is for individuals with AVERAGE RISK i.e. no family history or "alarm" signs or symptoms. If you or anyone you know is experiencing rectal bleeding, unintentional weight loss, change in bow...el habits, unexplained iron deficiency, or anemia please see a gastroenterologist REGARDLESS of age. You may benefit from a diagnostic colonoscopy. Also, if you have a family history of colorectal cancer in a FIRST- DEGREE RELATIVE (parent, sibling, or child) before the age of 60 years, or two first-degree relatives with colorectal cancer or advanced adenomas, the guidelines recommend colonoscopy every 5 years BEGINNING at age 40 years or at 10 years younger than the age at diagnosis of the youngest affected relative. COLORECTAL CANCER (CRC) is one of the most common cancers in the US. In 2019, approximately 145,600 new cases of CRC and 51,000 deaths were estimated to occur. While the overall incidence and mortality for CRC have been declining, the incidence in ADULTS UNDER THE AGE OF 50 has been increasing since the mid-1990s. COLONOSCOPY is considered the GOLD STANDARD for colorectal cancer screening. It is safe and effective. Do not wait any longer if you need one. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have ANY QUESTIONS! #coloncancerawareness #coloncancerscreening #colonoscopy #cancerscreening #ChadwickBoseman #wakandaforever Image credit: http://www.soulbounce.com/2020//chadwick-boseman-1977-2020/

Fascinating! Proposed mechanism for COVID associated diarrhea.

Great article in Gastroenterology showing how risk factor profiles differ based on location of colorectal cancer. Summary of results: 1. 3058 cases of CRC (474 in cecum, 633 in ascending colon, 250 in transverse colon, 221 in descending colon, 750 in sigmoid colon, 202 in rectosigmoid junction, and 528 in rectum) analyzed.... 2. The positive associations with cancer risk decreased, from cecum to rectum, for age and family history of CRC. 3. The inverse associations with cancer risk increased, from cecum to rectum, for endoscopic screening and intake of whole grains, cereal fiber, and processed red meat. 4. There was a significant nonlinear trend in the association between CRC and female sex; 5. For proximal colon cancers, the association with alcohol consumption and smoking before age 30 years increased from the cecum to transverse colon. 6. For distal colon cancers, the positive association with waist circumference in men was greater for descending vs sigmoid colon cancer.

Could not have said it any better...

Great article about anti-reflux surgery. Take home points: 1. 40% of patients with typical GERD symptoms are refractory to standard PPI therapy... 2. Indications for anti-reflux surgery are limited and suboptimal 3. Patient selection is critical and long term efficacy is limited. 62% of patients end up back on PPI within 9 years. 4. Anti-reflux surgery has no impact on progression of Barrett’s esophagus to esophageal adenocarcinoma 5. Laparoscopic Roux en Y is the preferred anti reflux surgery in patients with morbid obesity 6. Medical treatment is more cost effective than anti reflux surgery

ONE YEAR In about one week I will have completed one year as an Attending Physician in my current healthcare organization. It feels just like yesterday that I stepped into a whole new world through the sliding doors of our hospital. I did not know what to expect. Even a few months earlier, I was a Gastroenterology fellow. Although as a third-year fellow I essentially managed patients independently, there was always a safety net I could count on falling back onthe Attending... Physician. The relationship between a Fellow (Physician) and the Attending Physician is a special one. The Attending Physician is responsible for ‘molding’ the fellow. Over the span of three years and many grueling hours including overnights, early mornings, weekends, and holidays, not only do they teach us the clinical aspects of practicing gastroenterology and hepatology but also, and this is unique to the specialty, help us budding gastroenterologists learn how to perform procedures i.e. technical facets of the field. Given that there have been seven to eight such individuals that imparted their knowledge, both clinical and technical, to me during my fellowship, I am a hybrid of all their styles and ideologiesa sum of all their parts. In addition to being mentors, they became my friends. I would seek their guidance and opinions for both patient and non-patient related issues. Naturally therefore, the thought of leaving them and moving on gave me separation anxiety. Little did I know that this vacuum would be filled by a new group of mentors and friends who have made this transition easier for me and I am grateful to them for that; Having a support network has afforded me the ability and freedom to focus on my practice. I have developed workflows and protocols keeping the patient in mind, seeing things through their eyes. We began with factors like front-office experience and the procedural scheduling process (e.g. bowel prep instructions) and worked our way to follow ups. This deep dive encompassed scrutinizing our endoscopy practices/routines as well as our check-in processes, consent forms, EHRs for procedural documentation, team structures, time blocks, and equipment inventories. Above all I have worked on building a relationship with a new communitya new family. I continue to be amazed by the compassion, love, generosity, selflessness, and the resilience of the people I serve even in the midst of a national pandemic. It is a privilege to be allowed into their lives and an honor to take care of their health and well-being and alleviate their sufferings. For me, there is no greater reward; And hopefully, I will get the opportunity to mold a budding gastroenterologist too in the near future! Check my blog for more...

A great pictograph summarizing recommendations with regards to probiotics in certain patient populations. I like that the authors have tabulated the strength of the recommendation and the quality of the evidence! This is part of a clinical guidelines article that was published in the journal Gastroenterology.

Food for thought...

Polyps come in all shapes and sizes! I utilized a technique called Endoscopic Mucosal Resection (EMR) to remove this lesion in one piece (en-bloc).