The Angry Gut - Coping with Colitis & Crohn's Disease
by W Grant Thompson MD

This book is intended for people with IBD and their families and is also an excellent resource for nurses, physicians and other health professionals involved in patient care.

This publication not only provides valuable information and a sharing of the author's expertise, but has also been written in a warm and caring style that bestows compassion to readers affected by IBD.

Part one gives the necessary introduction to help understand IBD, with a description on the anatomy and physiology of the gut, along with information about the history of IBD, epidemiology and possible causes.

Part two and three detail the similarities and yet distinct differences between Crohn's and colitis, with individual chapters on the pathology and pathogenesis, symptoms and diagnosis, treatment and complications. Topics related to IBD are covered in part four, with the opening chapter giving information on the variant forms of colitis, such as collagenous colitis and lymphocytic colitis, pouchitis, and others that fall into a subject area that can be a rare find in IBD publications.

Other sections deal with the extra-intestinal manifestations of IBD (associated conditions), colon cancer in IBD, psychological factors and quality of life issues, and the implications of IBD in sex and reproduction. The final chapters in part five give attention to the treatments in IBD, covering many of the drug, nutritional and surgical therapies that are employed (including clinical trials), and the investigations that are undertaken for diagnosis and in monitoring the IBD. Several illustrations and photographs throughout the book provide additional information.

A useful publication recommended for those seeking that extra information on IBD related problems not often covered in other texts.

Plenum Publishing Corporation, New York