Areas of Practice

Gastroenterology

Gastroenterology is a medical specialty that focuses on diagnosing and treating conditions affecting the digestive system, including the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine (colon), rectum, pancreas, liver, gallbladder, and bile ducts.

  • Esophageal Disorders include gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), esophageal strictures, and Barrett's esophagus.

  • Gastrointestinal Motility Disorders: This includes constipation, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and functional abdominal pain.

  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) includes conditions such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

  • Liver Diseases: This includes conditions such as hepatitis, cirrhosis, fatty liver disease, and liver cancer.

  • Pancreatic disorders include pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, and cystic fibrosis-related pancreatic insufficiency.

  • Nutritional Disorders include conditions such as malnutrition, obesity, and malabsorption syndromes.

  • Colorectal Cancer: This includes the diagnosis and treatment of colon and rectal cancer and the prevention of colorectal cancer through screening programs.

  • Endoscopic Procedures include diagnostic and therapeutic procedures such as colonoscopy, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS).

These are just a few of the many areas of practice within gastroenterology. In addition, gastroenterologists work closely with other healthcare professionals, including primary care physicians, surgeons, and radiologists, to provide comprehensive and effective care for patients with digestive disorders.

HEARTBURN & ACID REFLUX

Reflux means that stomach acid and juices flow from the stomach back up into the tube that leads from the throat to the stomach (esophagus). This causes heartburn. When you have heartburn that bothers you often, it is called gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD.

Eosinophilic esophagitis

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EOE, also spelled eosinophilic oesophagitis), also known as allergic oesophagitis, is an allergic inflammatory condition of the esophagus that involves eosinophils, a type of white blood cell. Eosinophils migrate to the esophagus in large numbers, then precipitate an allergic reaction when a trigger food is eaten. Symptoms are swallowing difficulty, food impaction, vomiting, and heartburn.

COLON CANCER

Colorectal cancer is expected to be the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in Canada in 2020 and approximately 26,900 Canadians will be diagnosed with the disease. Every year, almost 3,000 new cases of colon cancer are diagnosed in BC. According to the World Cancer Research Fund, there is strong evidence that being physically active, adopting healthy eating and drinking habits, not smoking and maintaining a healthy body weight can decrease the risk of developing cancer. 

In the majority of cases, colorectal cancer is preventable and yet, thousands of people are diagnosed with advanced stage colorectal cancer each year in Canada. If, however, the cancer is detected early through screening, it may be highly treatable and potentially curable.

MICROSCOPIC COLITIS

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disorder affecting the intestine. IBS involves problems with motility (movement of digested food through the intestines) and sensitivity (how the brain interprets signals from the intestinal nerves), leading to abdominal pain, changes in bowel patterns and other symptoms.

LIVER, PANCREAS, & GALLBLADDER DISORDERS

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) describes a group of conditions, the two main forms of which are Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are diseases that inflame the lining of the GI (gastrointestinal) tract and disrupt your body’s ability to digest food, absorb nutrition, and eliminate waste in a healthy manner. 

INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE

Microscopic colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease that affects the large bowel (colon and rectum) and was first recognized by doctors 40 years ago. Microscopic Colitis has different symptoms from those of the more well-known inflammatory bowel diseases – Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn’s Disease (CD). In UC and CD, the lining of the bowel is often visibly inflamed and ulcerated when viewed during colonoscopy (an instrument which allows a specialist to look into the colon). In Microscopic Colitis, the bowel lining usually appears normal during colonoscopy.

However, when biopsies (tissue samples) are taken from the bowel lining and examined under a microscope, changes in the lining can be seen – hence the name Microscopic Colitis. Another difference is that a frequent symptom of UC, and sometimes CD, is bloody diarrhea. In Microscopic Colitis, the diarrhea is watery but usually does not contain blood. The long term outlook for sufferers of Microscopic Colitis is good with a recent study showing that more than three out of four people achieve long term remission from the condition.

IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME

There are multiple types of liver diseases that we diagnose and treat, including fatty liver disease, alcohol-related liver disease, cirrhosis and liver transplantation evaluation, autoimmune liver disease, various metabolic liver diseases including hereditary hemochromatosis and Wilson’s disease, and viral liver disease including hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

CELIAC DISEASE

Celiac disease (CD) is a common disorder that is estimated to affect about one percent of the population. It is a condition in which the absorptive surface of the small intestine is damaged by a substance called gluten. Gluten is a group of proteins present in wheat, rye and barley and their cross bred grains. The damage to the intestine can lead to a variety of symptoms and result in an inability of the body to absorb nutrients such as protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, which are necessary for good health.