Your Gut Feelings: A Complete Guide to Living Better with Intestinal Problems

Four out of ten people visit their doctor because of gastrointestinal complaints. These widespread disorders exact a high toll in pain, suffering, and expense. Written by one of the world's leading experts in gastroenterology, this revised and up-to-date edition of Your Gut Feelings focuses on the most common problems of the lower intestinal tract--the bowel or "gut"--offering new ways of coping with them and reliable approaches to prevention. In clear language, free of medical jargon, Dr. Janowitz describes the most advanced methods and instruments used in the treatment of the human colon and intestinal problems--including the newest research on diagnosis testing, medication, and surgical treatments--and outlines the risks they carry. He also explains how to determine whether to treat such day-to-day problems as gas, "belly-ache," diarrhea, and constipation at home or to bring them to a doctor's attention. Covering a wide range of current colonic and intestinal disorders from the most common, irritable bowel syndrome (often known as spastic colon), through the more serious complaints such as colon cancer and sexually transmitted disorders, Dr. Janowitz provides basic information on the symptoms and causes of each problem. With clear and useful diagrams, photographs, charts, and tables, this indispensable handbook is must reading for anyone who has ever been afflicted problems of the intestine.