Gastro Intestinal Motility

Single Best Answer (SBA) examinations are an increasingly popular means of testing medical students and those undertaking postgraduate qualifications in a number of subject areas. Written by a final year medical student, junior doctors and experienced clinicians, 500 Single Best Answers in Medicine provides invaluable guidance from authors who understand from personal experience that detailed and accurate explanations are the key to successful revision. This book presents 500 SBA-style questions arranged by specialty area as well as a practice exam of random questions. A clear discussion of how the correct answer was reached and other options ruled out for every question is given at the end of each section, making this book an excellent learning aid during all stages of clinical studies, and particularly while preparing for medical finals.

The handbook includes a problems-based approach, a unique A to Z compendium of conditions, and sections on therapeutic drugs, and emergencies. Thoroughly revised and updated, it now includes such updates as new approaches for the management of eating disorders, and post-liver transplant patients, the latest advances in endoscopy, new therapies, refined advice on how to select between therapeutic options, as well as additional emergency topics on abdominal trauma, bowel obstructions, and major haemorrhage.

In order to understand common conditions such as coeliac disease and Crohn’s disease, one must view the gut in its evolutionary context. This is the novel approach to the gut and its diseases that is adopted in this book. The first part tells the story of the evolution of the gut itself – why it came about and how it has influenced the evolution of animals ever since. The second part focuses on the evolution of immunity and how the layers of immune mechanisms are retained in the gut, resembling the strata revealed in an archeological dig. The final part, ‘The Gastro-Archeologist’, ties the first two together and highlights how understanding the gut and immune system in their evolutionary context can help us understand diseases affecting them.

Ambitious in its scope but telling a unique story from a refreshingly novel perspective, the book offers an informative and enjoyable read. As the story of the gut, immunity and disease unfolds, the author aims to endow readers with the same sense of awe and excitement that the subject evokes in him. Difficult concepts are illustrated using simple and colourful analogies, and the main content is supplemented with anecdotes and unusual and amusing facts throughout the book.

The book is intended for anyone with an interest in the gut, its immunity and diseases, ranging from school and college biology and biomedical students, to professionals working in the field, and to patients suffering from intestinal diseases who want to understand more about their conditions.