Professor Bjarnason takes an individualised broad-based and holistic approach to each patient. When a diagnosis has been made he aims to provide first-class treatment for all gastroenterological diseases by conventional means as dictated by evidence-based medicine. However when this is ineffectual (such as may be the case in patients with the Irritable Bowel Syndrome) then he does not hesitate to try unconventional treatments such as wheat-free diets (effective for bloating in IBS) and mould free diets (effective for the Intestinal Candida Syndrome), etc. In the most resistant cases he has established a sound collaboration with medically-trained homeopaths.

The methods that Professor Bjarnason has developed (measurement of intestinal permeability and inflammation) allow fast, accurate and non-invasive diagnostic discrimination between patients with the Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

These investigations allow assessments of the prognosis of inflammatory bowel disease that are instrumental in deciding whether medical or surgical treatment is in the patient’s best interest.

With these comprehensive tests come the most accurate clinical predictors of IBD relapse, thus allowing interventional medical treatment at a stage where there are minimal side-effects.  When surgery is the best option, close professional collaboration with the expertise of minimally-invasive surgeons, ensures maximum safety and speed of recovery.

Professor Bjarnason treats patients with active Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis by established methods (such as 5-aminosalicylic acid, prednisolone, azathioprine (or 6-Mercaptopurine), elemental diets (and other dietary regimes), antibiotics, cyclosporine, surgery etc, as appropriate for the severity of the disease). He has a particular expertise in treating patients with active Crohn’s Disease with elemental diets (having been instrumental in establishing their efficacy and mode of action) and the new anti-cytokines or so called Biological Treatments.

For those who are concerned about the side-effects of treatment there is the option of white cell apheresis (removal) namely Adacolumn™ treatment. This treatment selectively removes certain white cells from the circulation by filtering the blood through a column and it is without any major side effects. Professor Bjarnason is in the position of being uniquely experienced in Europe with Adacolumn™ treatment (White cell apheresis/removal), in particular having developed its usage through clinical application and controlled-trials cases conducted by us at King’s College Hospital as part of developer-led studies since 2001.

Adacolumn™ is particularly attractive and effective in all stages of Ulcerative Colitis (and in many patients with Crohn's Disease). Recent studies show that it can be used effectively in preventing clinical relapse in patients with IBD who are at significant risk.

Professor Bjarnason is internationally known for his research (inventing, developing and validating) non-invasive methods that allow accurate assessment of intestinal function. A recent addition to this is the use of wireless capsule enteroscopy. This is a new investigation that allows clinicians to obtain a video picture of the whole of the small bowel, in a non-invasive manner. This technique is superceding conventional radiology for the detection of small bowel disease, such as obscure gastrointestinal bleeding, Crohn's disease or the side effects of NSAIDs – (the so-called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) thus facilitating the detection of disease where none was thought to exist. __With pinpoint detection of abnormality allows biopsies for diagnosis (balloon aided small bowel flexible enteroscopy).  The Professor is in the forefront of wireless capsule enteroscopy research having published widely on the subject as well as being an author of chapters in textbooks and atlases.

Professor Bjarnason has developed a number of non-invasive small bowel tests that are uniquely helpful for the differential diagnosis of various intestinal diseases. These include tests of intestinal permeability, intestinal sugar metabolism (disaccharidases), malabsorbption, bile acid-induced diarrhoea, intestinal inflammation, pancreatic function, etc.

Colorectal cancer is the 2nd and 3rd most common cancer in men and women, respectively and is a common cause of cancer-related mortality. The prognosis of colorectal cancer has not changed appreciably in the last few decades. The best hope for reducing mortality and improving prognosis is to diagnose the cancer at an early asymptomatic stage (when surgery is associated with a 85% - 5 year survival, as opposed to less than 20% for more advanced lesions) or to detect pre-cancerous lesions such as large colonic polyps that can be removed during colonoscopy.
Professor Bjarnason is a highly skilled and competent colonoscopist.
However for those who are concerned (with minimal symptoms or symptoms that are not particularly suggestive of colorectal cancer or those with a family history of the disease) about the invasiveness of the procedure, his preferred initial approach allows them to be offered non-invasive screening tests for colorectal cancer. Currently the most sensitive one is the faecal calprotectin test with a sensitivity in excess of 90% for detecting any stage of disease, whether early or advanced disease. The test also detects most of the larger (more than 1cm) colorectal polyps (that confer the greatest risk of cancer transformation). A normal faecal calprotectin test result in patients with average risk of the disease provides good to excellent assurance that a colonoscopy is not indicated. There are other tests available that are more specific but less sensitive for the detection of colorectal cancer. The tests can be repeated at 6 to 12 monthly intervals for reassurance. A positive test, of course, is an indication for colonoscopy in most subjects.
In the event that colorectal cancer is found the Professor works within a multi-disciplinary team of experts that use state of the art equipment to stage the disease, a dedicated team of colorectal surgeons with international reputations for their expertise in minimally-invasive surgery, hepatobiliary surgeons (in the case of solitary liver metastasis) as well as experts in oncology and radiotherapy thus ensuring the best possible treatment and prognosis.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome accounts for over 40% of all Gastroenterological consultations and has a prevalence in the community of at least 20%. It is a diagnosis made by the exclusion of "organic" intestinal disease, which can be made in many patients without reverting to invasive tests.
Professor Bjarnason aims to provide a first-class treatment for all Gastroenterological disease by conventional means as dictated by evidence-based medicine. For Irritable Bowel Syndrome, he would always implement appropriate dietary treatment for constipation/diarrhoea, consider the use of anti-spasmodics, anti-diarrhoeal agents, questran, low dose antidepressants, etc. However these treatments are famed for their lack of long-term efficacy.
In these circumstances, an holistic approach is made as well as a biomedical one. This may involve cognitive treatment and/or hypnotherapy (both are of proven efficacy in certain sub-types of irritable bowel syndrome) or, in more resistant cases, eradication regimes for intestinal Candida albicans and/or a major dietary intervention treatment such as food exclusion diets or elemental diets (for up to 6 weeks followed by serial re-introduction of food in order to detect food intolerances), gluten, yeast and/or starch free diets and food exclusion regimens in close collaboration with dieticians to ensure nutritional adequacy during the treatment. This treatment is not only helpful in some patients with problematic irritable bowel syndrome but efficacy is also suggested in patients with rheumatic diseases including fibromyalgia, post-viral fatigue syndrome, various immune deficiency syndromes and of course food allergy and intolerance.

One of the most recent research findings is that that the bacterium Helicobacter pylori which is the main culprit in the development of gastric and duodenal ulcers as well as stomach cancer, has a detrimental effect on patients with Parkinson’s disease. Successful eradication treatment of Helicobacter pylori appears to reverse many of the features of Parkinson’s disease and indeed the evidence is that this alters the natural history of the disease. Patients with Parkinson’s disease will be assessed by a multi-disciplinary team which includes clinical neuro-pharmacologists and specialised Parkinson’s disease nurses in order to optimize treatment and treatment success.