Approach to the Patient with Chronic Gastrointestinal Disorders [antikvár]

"What matters in chronic disorders is the patients' suffering, not the disease entity" "La nature m'enseigne aussi par ces sentiments de douleur, de faim, de soif, etc. que ne suis pas seulement logé dans mon corps, ainsi qu'un pilote en son navire, mais outre cela que je lui suis conjoint trés-étroitement et tellement confondu et mélé que je compose comme un seul tout avec lui" Réné Descartes. Méditations Métaphysiques. 1641 With economic, scientific, and technological developments, the populations of industrialized countries have experienced a dramatic decrease both in the death rate and in acute infectious diseases as well as an increase in chronic morbid conditions that parallel the prolonged life expectancy and that negatively affect the health status and quality of life. Hence, the main challenge for the health care system of these industrialized countries is to be able to deal with the impact of the chronic diseases as far as concerns high prevalence, elevated degree of individual suffering, high demands on the medical profession, inadequacy of therapeutic means, and elevated costs. Chronic Gastrointestinal (GI) disorders represent a large proportion of all chronic diseases, with which they share several common features. Not unlike other chronic diseases, the prevalence of Chronic GI Disorders (CGID) is increasing with the increase in life expectancy and improved therapeutic means to cure life-threatening complications. In addition, they present aspects peculiar to the GI tract that, besides being the