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Liver cancer, stool transplants and epilepsy care

Commonly used sweeteners can cause cancer of the liver, according to research conducted recently at Upstate. Dr. Andras Perl led the research, which was published in the journal, Nature Metabolism. He’s a SUNY distinguished professor and also the division chief of rheumatology at Upstate.

In this "HealthLink on Air" episode, he explains the role of enzymes and sugar alcohols and why he has curtailed his use of products containing artificial sweeteners.

Also, this week, a common and potentially dangerous infection can be treated better through stool transplantation than antibiotics, explains an Upstate doctor involved in researching the diarrheal illness known as C. diff (Clostridioides difficile). Dr. Aamer Imdad explains the value of introducing someone else's feces into a C. diff patient. Imdad is an assistant professor of pediatrics, specializing in nutrition and pediatric gastroenterology.

And, neurologists and neurosurgeons believe they can help patients who have uncontrolled seizures with regenerative cell therapy implants. Neurona Therapeutics, the San Francisco-based biotherapeutics company behind this new treatment, says the first two patients to try it have seen their seizures reduced by more than 90 percent. One of those patients was treated at Upstate, and this interview features one of the patient’s physicians, Dr. Robert Beach, a professor of neurology and chief of epilepsy at Upstate.

Listen to Healthlink on Air every Sunday at 6 a.m. on WRVO.

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