Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease Nutrition Desk Reference PDF

The gastrointestinal tract is concerned with ingesting, digesting, and absorbing nutrients and the liver is a metabolic engine that transforms nutrients, synthesizes plasma proteins, and detoxifies bacteria and toxins absorbed from the gut. It is therefore not surprising that gastrointestinal and hepatic diseases have a major impact on the nutritional state of the individual. This text is easily referred to, integrating the gastrointestinal tract and nutrition, and is a valuable addition to the literature of the practicing gastroenterologist.

The desk reference is edited by Dr. Gerard Mullin, who directs the integration of nutrition and gastrointestinal disease at Johns Hopkins Medical Center; Dr. Laura Matarese, who specializes in the nutritional care of persons with gastrointestinal failure at East Carolina University; and Dr. Melissa Palmer, the medical director of hepatology at New York University in Plainview. They have track records and current interests suited to such a reference. The book has a total of 32 chapters covering a range of topics relevant to being a reference integrating nutrition with gastrointestinal disease.

Three chapters, entitled "Major Components of the Gastrointestinal System and Their Role in Digestion," "The Role of the Gut Microbiota and Probiotics in Gastrointestinal Disease Prevention," and "Anatomy and Physiology of the Liver," give the reader an understanding of the normal state.

Other sections cover the role of nutrition in gastrointestinal and liver disease, including alcoholic and nonalcoholic liver disease, malabsorption, colorectal disease, transplantation, pancreatitis, and inflammatory bowel disease.

Of special interest to the practicing gastroenterologist are areas such as food allergy, food intolerances, effects of medicinal plants, and the role of fiber in the gastrointestinal tract. These areas are rarely covered in standard texts.

The remaining chapters cover the standard areas of nutrition, namely, nutritional assessment, enteral and parenteral nutrition, home parenteral nutrition, obesity, critical care nutrition, and surgical nutrition.

Finally, there are two chapters that cover eating disorders and ethical issues.

This text is a valuable practical reference for practicing gastroenterologists as it covers the important aspects of nutrition in gastrointestinal and liver disease.