Optim LLC Acquires Precision Endoscopic Technologies

Endoscope manufacturer Optim LLC announces the asset acquisition of Precision Endoscopic Technologies (formerly MAX Endoscopy of Mentor, OH). The new company, Precision Endoscopic Technologies LLC will operate as a division of Optim LLC and will be co-located at Optim’s headquarters, 64 Technology Park Road, Sturbridge, MA.

Precision manufactures a patented infrared coagulation system (IRC), which has FDA 510(k) clearance for the remediation and treatment of hemorrhoids. The infrared delivery system operates through the working channel of most GI endoscopes that are currently used for colonoscopies and sigmoidoscopies. The Precision system gives the gastroenterologist the opportunity to quickly and with little or no patient trauma treat stage 1, 2, & 3 hemorrhoid conditions.

Dr. Michael Epstein of Annapolis, MD, inventor of the Precision IRC system, will join Precision as its Medical Director and in this capacity will be establishing training centers throughout the US. In addition, Dr. Epstein will be leading the development of new products and new applications of this patented IRC coagulation capability.

Thomas V. Root, President of Optim LLC, the parent of Precision, states that this acquisition provides two significant steps forward for Optim. As Optim’s initial entry into the GI market, this acquisition represents Optim’s first opportunity to move from a purely diagnostic endoscope company to a company that provides both diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic capabilities.

“With over 4-million new cases of hemorrhoids reported each year, we believe that Precision will lead the way in providing a better quality of life for those suffering from this often painful condition” said Root.

Precision will be attending and demonstrating the system at the American College of Gastroenterologists annual meeting in Washington, DC, October 28 through November 1, 2011.

What are hemorrhoids?

A precise definition of hemorrhoids does not exist, but they can be described as masses or clumps ("cushions") of tissue within the anal canal that contain blood vessels and the surrounding, supporting tissue made up of muscle and elastic fibers. The anal canal is the last four centimeters through which stool passes as it goes from the rectum to the outside world. The anus is the opening of the anal canal to the outside world.

Although most people think hemorrhoids are abnormal, they are present in everyone. It is only when the hemorrhoidal cushions enlarge that hemorrhoids can cause problems and be considered abnormal or a disease.

Although hemorrhoids occur in everyone, they become large and cause problems in only 4% of the general population. Hemorrhoids that cause problems are found equally in men and women, and their prevalence peaks between 45 and 65 years of age.

The arteries supplying blood to the anal canal descend into the canal from the rectum above and form a rich network of arteries that communicate with each other around the anal canal. Because of this rich network of arteries, hemorrhoidal blood vessels have a ready supply of arterial blood. This explains why bleeding from hemorrhoids is bright red (arterial blood) rather than dark red (venous blood), and why bleeding from hemorrhoids occasionally can be severe. The blood vessels that supply the hemorrhoidal vessels pass through the supporting tissue of the hemorrhoidal cushions.

The anal veins drain blood away from the anal canal and the hemorrhoids. These veins drain in two directions. The first direction is upwards into the rectum, and the second is downwards beneath the skin surrounding the anus. The dentate line is a line within the anal canal that denotes the transition from anal skin (anoderm) to the lining of the rectum.

Technically, the differentiation between internal and external hemorrhoids is made on the basis of whether the hemorrhoid originates above or below the dentate line (internal and external, respectively).

As discussed previously, hemorrhoidal cushions in the upper anal canal are made up of blood vessels and their supporting tissues. There usually are three major hemorrhoidal cushions oriented right posterior, right anterior, and left lateral. During the formation of enlarged internal hemorrhoids, the vessels of the anal cushions swell and the supporting tissues increase in size. The bulging mass of tissue and blood vessels protrudes into the anal canal where it can cause problems. Unlike with internal hemorrhoids, it is not clear how external hemorrhoids form.

Enjoy eating again

Digestive enzymes aren't silver bullets and indigestion can certainly be a symptom

of a much more serious digestive disease, such as Crohn's disease, acid reflux or

GERD, and irritable bowel syndrome.

So in addition to eating healthy and taking a digestive enzyme supplement, don't

forget to check with your physician if you have frequent episodes of indigestion.

Eat plenty of fiber every day

Fiber is not only key to keeping indigestion at bay, but it is essential for your

overall health. Unfortunately, a lot of men's diets consist of junk and fast foods,

red meat, and meals that are high in fat certainly a recipe for indigestion.

A high-fiber diet is an important part of healthy eating — in addition to helping

digestion, it can also help prevent diabetes, coronary heart disease, hemorrhoids,

colorectal cancer, and other diseases.

On average, American men eat only 10 to 15 grams of fiber, or half of the

recommended daily intake.

Increasing your daily fiber intake is usually synonymous with eating healthier,

considering vegetables, fruits, whole grain cereals, and nuts contain plenty of

fiber. It doesn't even have to be painful — you can choose high-fiber cereals for

breakfast, eat whole-wheat bread instead of white, and snack on air-popped popcorn

instead of candy.

Avoid foods that can give you gas — these include broccoli, baked beans, cabbage,

cauliflower, and carbonated drinks. For some men, starches — such as wheat, oats

and potatoes — can also lead to excess gas. If you are lactose intolerant, then lay

off dairy products or take lactase enzymes to help with digestion.

Also, remember to drink plenty of water, since it can lubricate food in the

digestive tract, help dissolve minerals, vitamins and nutrients for easier

absorption, and keep stool moist to prevent constipation.

Chew your food & eat less of it

Chewing is one of the most important parts of digestion, yet it is probably the most

forgotten. Chewing not only helps break down food, it also signals the salivary

glands, stomach and the small intestine to start releasing digestive enzymes.

On a related note, try not to overeat. Your body has only so many digestive enzymes

to go around. Also, a bigger meal means that your stomach must produce more acid to

help digest that food, which will increase your chances of getting heartburn and

indigestion.

Colorectal cancer is preventable, treatable – provided you have regular colonoscopies

The best way to screen for colorectal cancer is with a colonoscopy. Howard Regional Health System's Dr. John Salter, a medical oncologist and hematologist, just can't say it any plainer than that.

March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month, and it brings to mind a body part that a lot of people don't like to talk about.

"People will occasionally pass blood in their stool – and I'm not talking about going to the bathroom and wiping and finding some blood on the toilet tissue, which is usually minor bleeding from hemorrhoids or diverticulitis, but I'm talking about where the water in the bowl turns red with all the blood – for weeks or longer before seeking medical attention because they're so embarrassed about talking about their bowel movements," said Salter. "The colon is dirty. It excretes waste. There's a lot of negative connotation to it."

"What upsets me is colon cancer's very treatable," Salter said. "It's preventable if caught early."

Someone who dreads talking to a doctor about bowel movements, the colon and rectum and fear having a colonoscopy should consider the alternative: Polyps can become cancerous, possibly leading to surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and excreting waste through an ostomy bag.

"It's terrible to think that a patient will be forced to use an ostomy for the rest of his or her life when this outcome is potentially preventable for most patients," Salter said.

Because a person is given general sedation, it's not painful to undergo a colonoscopy.

During the colonoscopy, a gastroenterologist or surgeon (depending on the patient's choice) will remove any polyps and perform any needed biopsies.

"The great thing about a colonoscopy is we can find anything and remove it right there and then," Salter said. "That's why having a colonoscopy is so important. If a polyp is precancerous, we can remove it before it becomes cancer."

Left undetected and untreated, colon cancer can spread to other organs, increasing a person's chance of dying from the disease.

Some colon cancers are genetic, just like with breast cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, "Genetic tests can help determine if members of certain families have inherited a high risk for developing colorectal cancer due to syndromes such as familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) or hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC). Without genetic testing, all members of a family known to have an inherited form of colorectal cancer should start screening at an early age and get screened frequently. If genetic testing is done for a known mutation within a family, those members who are found not to have the mutated gene may be able to be screened at the same age and frequency as people at average risk.

"When looking at whether testing might be appropriate, a genetic counselor will try to get a detailed view of your family history. For example, doctors have found that many families with HNPCC tend to have certain characteristics:

A least three relatives have colorectal cancer.

One should be a first-degree relative (parent, sibling, or child) of the other two relatives.

At least two successive generations are involved.

At least one relative had cancer when that person was younger than age 50.

Tumors should be verified by pathologic examination."

Virginia Book Notes

Despite America's increasingly mobile society, a Southerner's move to New York remains a major cultural undertaking, and it's one that Jane Borden describes with hilarity in her first book, "I Totally Meant to Do That" (240 pages, Broadway, $14).

Borden grew up in Greensboro, N.C., went to boarding school in Virginia and college in Chapel Hill, N.C., all stopping posts along the way for the perfect Southern belle.

But consider this episode from her senior year in high school, in which she played Miss Bessom in Shirley Jackson's adaptation of her story "The Lottery."

"Our director said to smile and project. Apparently, I understood that to mean grimace and shout. I'd have been hailed as a star had the stage directions for Miss Bessom read, ‘played as a man with hearing loss and hemorrhoids.' … Bottom line: I couldn't act my way out of a paper bag if it were made of me-sized holes."

There's much more, and just as funny, in Borden's account of her transformation from belle to hipster.

A memoir in essays, "I Totally Meant to Do That" will find a place in the hearts of any Southerner who has lived in the North. Part cautionary tale, part celebration, it establishes Borden as a worthy successor to Fredericksburg's estimable Florence King.

History can be found throughout the Old Dominion, but one of the state's wealthiest regions is the Northern Neck, the birthplace of George Washington, James Madison, James Monroe and Robert E. Lee, among other notables.

In "Historic Sites in Virginia's Northern Neck & Essex County" (290 pages, Preservation Virginia, Northern Neck Branch, $40 hardcover, $24.95 paperback), editor Thomas A. Wolf describes 460 historic sites, including grand plantations, more modest early homes, churches, schools and courthouses in Essex, King George, Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond and Westmoreland counties.

Complete with 445 photos and 36 maps, it's a valuable guide to day (or longer) trips to the area, a resource for armchair travel and a source of memories and learning for longtime residents and newcomers to the region.

Wolf is a retired official of the International Monetary Fund. He serves on the boards of Preservation Virginia's Northern Neck Branch and the Society of the Lees in Virginia, and he is vice president and editor of the annual journal of the Northumberland County Historical Society.


Also:

John Rozema, who lives in Southside Virginia, has written "The Stories I Never Told You" (320 pages, Pleasant Word, $19.99), his account of finding God and bringing him into his life.

Father and daughter Roger Bruner and Kristi Rae Bruner of Glen Allen have teamed up on "Found in Translation" (369 pages, Barbour Books, $9.99), a work of Christian fiction.

Patricia Keen-Diaz, a former resident of Hampton who now lives in Portsmouth, has completed her memoir, "Odd Road to Kabul" (286 pages, Bucko and Chicky Publishing, $37.33). Told through a survivor's perspective, it has been 40 years in the making.

The second edition of "Profiles of Virginia — History, Statistics, Demographics for 759 Populated Places in Virginia Including Comparative Statistics & Rankings" (500 pages, Universal Reference Publications/Grey House Publishing, $149) has been published.

Reduce your risk of colorectal cancer

Reducing your risks for colon and rectal cancer can be easier than you think.

It is important to consider your colon and rectal health during March, which is Colorectal

Cancer Awareness Month, and every day.

Many of the measures that are recommended to prevent heart disease and diabetes will also

serve to decrease your chances for getting colon cancer, said Gregory FitzHarris, a

colorectal surgeon with Sentara Surgery Specialists.

He said many diseases work in similar ways. If you don't take care of your health, your risk

for developing diseases you are most susceptible to is even higher.

Smoking, eating a large amount of red meat and not eating enough fruits and vegetables will

increase your odds of getting colon cancer.

Exercising and having a healthy diet will decrease your risk most of all. He also strongly

advises people to get regular colorectal screenings.

Western Tidewater has some of the highest mortality rates from colon and rectal cancer in all

of Virginia, according to Virginia Department of Health data from 2004 to 2008.

Symptoms of colorectal cancer include rectal bleeding, blood in your stool, a change in bowel

habits, constipation or diarrhea that lasts for more than two weeks, abdominal discomfort,

feeling like your bowel does not empty completely, fatigue, weakness, unexplained weight

loss, and gas pain lasting more than two weeks.

Sometimes, rectal bleeding can occur when a person has hemorrhoids, so it is difficult to

pinpoint distinguishable symptoms, he said. The other symptoms, too, could be caused by

something other than colorectal cancer.

"It takes quite a while for polyps to turn into cancer," he said.

Removing precancerous polyps and being screened regularly can decrease your chances for

getting colon cancer, he said. Getting a screening can help people avoid getting colon

cancer.

When a person is able to identify the symptoms as being related to colon cancer, they already

have the disease.

"Unfortunately, we have folks that don't get a colonoscopy," he said.

If a patient is found to have stage 1 colon cancer, their chances of having a disease-free

survival after the removal of the diseased part of the colon is 90-95 percent, he said.

"The earlier you catch it, the better your survival rate," he said.

There are other methods that doctors use to screen for colon cancer and polyps, but

FitzHarris said other methods are less effective.

"They're nowhere near as sensitive as a colonoscopy," he said.

If a polyp is found or suspected using the other methods of screening, the patient will need

to have a colonoscopy to follow up.

"A colonoscopy is the gold standard," he said.

Most people should have a colonoscopy at age 50, he said. Black people are more susceptible

to getting colorectal cancer and getting it sooner in life. He recommends that they begin

screenings at age 45. If you have a family member with colorectal cancer, he recommends being

screened 10 years earlier than the age your family member discovered they had the cancer.

If polyps are detected, go to a colorectal surgeon, he said.

"Don't wait for symptoms to get screened," he said.

Medicare Coverage is Available for Testing

Colorectal cancer - often referred to as colon cancer - is the second leading cancer killer among men and women in the U.S. More than 145,000 people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer every year in the U.S. and almost 50,000 people die from it annually. Colorectal cancer is largely preventable with regular screening, and is curable with early detection. Screening tests are covered by Medicare and most insurance plans.

Who is at risk?
Age, not gender, is the single most important risk factor for colorectal cancer. Both men and women should undergo testing for the disease starting at age 50. Some studies have also shown that African-Americans are more frequently diagnosed with colon cancer at a younger age, leading some experts to suggest that African-Americans should begin screening at age 45.

What are the symptoms?

In early stages colorectal cancer often will not produce any noticeable symptoms, and therefore when there are symptoms, the cancer may be at an advanced stage. Warning signs that may indicate colon cancer include:

Blood in your stools.
Narrower than normal stools.
Unexplained abdominal pain.
Unexplained change in bowel habits.
Unexplained anemia or weight loss.

These symptoms may be caused by other benign diseases such as hemorrhoids, inflammation in the colon or irritable bowel syndrome. However, a person with any of these symptoms should be evaluated by a physician.

There are also certain behaviors that can increase risk for colorectal cancer, including a high fat diet, smoking and excessive alcohol intake. Some individuals with certain gastrointestinal diseases, such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease, may have a risk of developing colon cancer earlier than age 50 and should talk to their physician about regular colonoscopy screening starting at an age earlier than 50 years.

When colon cancer is caught early, most people are cured. However, when colon cancer is detected at later stages, the chances for cure are much lower.

Importance of Screening -
Currently there is no substitution for getting tested. A study by leading cancer groups found that colorectal cancer deaths have declined nearly five percent (2002-2004), in part due to prevention through screening and the removal of precancerous polyps. Colonoscopy is especially effective because it allows for the detection and removal of benign polyps or growths in the colon before cancer develops. This explains why colonoscopy is an invaluable tool that helps a doctor answer important questions about digestive health and prevent certain diseases like colon cancer.