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The need to burp and pass gas is normal. But some people feel like they’re frequently bloated and gassy.

The U.S. National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse offers these suggestions to help reduce uncomfortable gas:
Cut down on foods known to cause gas, such as beans, dairy products, bran and whole wheat foods.
Limit gas-causing vegetables such as onions, broccoli, cabbage and brussels sprouts, and fruits such as peaches, apples and pears.
Avoid sugary fruit drinks and carbonated soft drinks. Instead, drink water.
Avoid swallowing excessive air by eating slowly and chewing thoroughly.
Keep a diary of foods that cause gas for you, and try to avoid them.

Swimming is terrific exercise and a great source of summer fun, but it’s not without its risks.

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons offers these recommendations to prevent swimming injuries:
Before jumping or diving in the water, warm up with some stretches, walking, running, biking or even some jumping jacks for a few minutes.
To prevent repetitive motion injuries of the shoulder, start an exercise program designed to strengthen shoulder and upper back muscles.
Take swimming lessons. And never swim alone.
Avoid swimming when you’re overheated, too cold or just too tired.
Don’t swim strenuously if you’re sick with a fever, an upper respiratory infection or an ear infection.
If diving, make sure the water is safe and deep enough.
Carefully clean and dry ears after swimming to prevent swimmer’s ear infection.

People who undergo screening colonoscopy in the morning rather than afternoon may be more likely to have potentially cancerous growths detected, a new study suggests.

Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio found that among more than 3,600 colonoscopies performed at their center, the rate of polyp detection was higher with tests done in the morning.

The United States Preventive Services Task Force recommends colonoscopy every ten years starting at the age of 50, as a screening test for colon cancer. Polyps are benign growths, but because they have the potential to become cancerous, they are usually removed if they are caught during screening colonoscopy.

Polyps were found in 29 percent of patients who had a colonoscopy in the morning, versus 25 percent of those who were screened in the afternoon. There was also evidence that detection rates dipped as the day wore on, according to findings published the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

It is not clear why morning-time screenings had a higher detection rate in this study, according to the researchers, led by Dr. Madhusudhan R. Sanaka. They speculate, though, that doctor fatigue could be a factor.

In some cases, physicians performing the screenings “might have been less attentive or less vigilant in the afternoons compared with the mornings,” the researchers write.

That, however, is just a theory, notes Dr. Joseph Vicari, in an editorial published with the study. “No data exist in this study to support that conclusion,” writes Vicari, of Rockford Gastroenterology Associates in Illinois.

He also points out that the morning group of patients had a higher number of men, an older average age and a greater proportion of patients with a history of polyps than the afternoon group.

All three factors, Vicari writes, could have “skewed the data” toward a higher detection rate in the morning.

Sanaka’s team agrees that no definitive conclusions can yet be drawn. “The reasons and implications of this finding should be studied further,” the researchers write.

If physician fatigue is found to be a factor, Vicari notes, then changes in how colonoscopies are scheduled — fewer in the afternoon or fewer throughout the day, for example — might improve polyp detection rates.

People with chronic respiratory disorders who receive early non-invasive ventilation after a breathing tube has been removed are less likely to suffer respiratory failure or die, a Spanish study has found.

The study included 106 people on mechanical ventilation. All of them had high levels of carbon dioxide in their blood, a condition known as hypercapnia. After their internal breathing tubes were removed, in a procedure called extubation, 54 people received non-invasive ventilation for 24 hours and 52 were given conventional oxygen treatment, the according to the study.

Respiratory failure after extubation occurred in 15 percent of those who received non-invasive ventilation and in 48 percent of people given conventional oxygen therapy. Non-invasive ventilation was associated with an 83 percent decreased risk for respiratory failure after extubation, the researchers found.

They also found that the death rate after 90 days was much lower among people in the non-invasive ventilation group (11 percent) than among those who received conventional oxygen therapy (31 percent).

“Early non-invasive ventilation after extubation diminished risk of respiratory failure and lowered 90-day mortality in patients with hypercapnia during a spontaneous breathing trial,” concluded Dr. Miquel Ferrer, of the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, and his research colleagues. “Routine implementation of this strategy for management of mechanically ventilated patients with chronic respiratory disorders is advisable.”

The study appears online this week and in an upcoming print issue of The Lancet.