Metabolic Medicine and Surgery PDF

Preface

Let us start with a fresh slate. And, for arguments sake, let us forget the current boundaries between the traditional specialties. Our task is to design a new specialty to serve patients with obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular risk, prediabetes, maldigestion, malabsorption, malnutrition, nutritional de•ciencies, and other diseases in which nutritional factors clearly play a role. How would you do it?

Metabolic medicine and metabolic surgery responded to this challenge by creating a multidisciplinary, comprehensive approach to patient management, with synergies between the specialists. Each member is responsible for a set of diagnostic and therapeutic processes.

This approach was initiated by the three editors of this text in 1998, when we effectively integrated our clinical activities in the management of patients with obesity. Sixteen years and thousands of patients later, we feel we have proven the value of the methodology. The dynamic —ow between our separate disciplines has allowed us to learn much from each other's perspectives. It has made us each more engaged and complete practitioners, with obvious bene•t to our delivery of care. Having created a successful model, we want to share it with others, expecting them to embellish and improve upon it. We offer this book as an example for the framework of our integrated approach to patient care.

The book is intended for physicians, residents, medical students, nurse practitioners, dietitians, physician assistants, and other practitioners who care for patients with metabolic illnesses. Since these conditions have now been shown to affect large percentages of our population, it is likely that most clinicians will see patients with metabolic conditions throughout their careers. This is certainly the case for those in primary care settings, where two thirds of all patients are overweight or obese. A large percentage of the general population also has metabolic syndrome and is at risk for the development of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

This book could also be used as a text for those preparing to practice as specialists in the •eld or those who wish to expand their scope of practice to include management of metabolic patients. Furthermore, we hope this text will be seen as a useful reference for those already practicing in the •elds of metabolic medicine, metabolic surgery, obesity, diabetes, and nutrition.