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SUMMARY Maximal acid output (MAO) after pentagastrin stimulation and gastrin response to a standard meal was studied in 100 control and 200 duodenal ulcer subjects from each of two ethnic groups, Scots and Chinese. The acid output was significantly higher in the Scots than in the Chinese for both controls and duodenal ulcer patients. Despite correction for differences in body stature by expressing MAO as a function of the body weight, these differences persisted. In 45 pairs of closely matched patients with duodenal ulcer, the differences between the two ethnic groups remained significant, irrespective of whether MAO was expressed in absolute or weight corrected values. This indicates that differences in age, sex, family history, or duration of illness did not account for differences in acid output. In 20 pairs of normal control and 45 pairs of duodenal ulcer patients the fasting and post-prandial serum gastrin levels did not differ significantly between the two ethnic groups. The proportion of acid normosecretors was significantly higher in the Chinese duodenal ulcer patients than in the Scottish. The reason for these differences in the gastric acid output between the two ethnic groups is not known and needs to be studied further.

Introduction Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) affects 100,000 Americans and more than 14 million people globally, mostly in economically disadvantaged populations, requires early diagnosis after birth and constant monitoring throughout the life-span of the patient. Areas Covered Early diagnosis of SCD still remains a challenge in preventing childhood mortality in the developing world due to requirements of skilled personnel and high-cost of currently available modalities. On the other hand, SCD monitoring presents insurmountable challenges due to heterogeneities among patient populations, as well as in the same individual longitudinally. Here, we describe emerging point-of-care micro/nano platform technologies for SCD screening and monitoring, and critically discuss current state-of-the-art, potential challenges associated with these technologies, and future directions. Expert Commentary Recently developed microtechnologies offer simple, rapid, and affordable screening of SCD and have the potential to facilitate universal screening in resource-limited settings and developing countries. On the other hand, monitoring of SCD is more complicated compared to diagnosis and requires comprehensive validation of efficacy. Early use of novel microdevices for patient monitoring might come in especially handy in new clinical trial designs of emerging therapies.

IBS is also a problem in rural people in Bangladesh with a prevalence almost identical to most other countries, and only a minority of them seeks health care. Positive diagnosis of IBS can be done by precisely enquiring colonic symptoms in apparently healthy people.