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Published on: 1/24/2002
Last Visited: 9/8/2008
By Gary Gitnick, MD with Karen Cooksey
...
It immediately established the author Gary Gitnick as a compassionate doctor.It's true that the conditions he discusses don't carry the threat of mortality the way cancer or coronary artery disease do.Yet gas, heartburn, constipation, and diarrhea can wreak havoc with our bodies, causing tremendous physical and emotional distress.To a patient suffering from irritable bowel syndrome so severe that he's embarrassed to go on social outings, the desire for relief can be overwhelming.
One out of every four visits to a primary care doctor, in fact, is due to a digestive problem, according to Gitnick.He himself is a gastroenterologist, a specialist in diseases of the esophagus, stomach, intestines, liver, and pancreas, all the organs that contribute to digestion.As chief of the Division of Digestive Diseases at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine (the largest gastroenterology division in the world, according to the book jacket), he has heard the full gamut of complaints.
Many of his patients reported repeat episodes of searing heartburn, especially if they had eaten late at night.Others had had "nervous" stomachs since they were children, but were never properly diagnosed as having irritable bowel syndrome until Gitnick saw them.One patient had experienced excruciatingly embarrassing bouts of gas, bloating, and cramps all his life -- until he took up exercise, improving both his health and his self-esteem.
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