Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Gastroenterology, called until about a decade ago (in my opinion more appropriately) "Diseases of the digestive system", is the specialization that deals with the diagnosis and therapy of diseases of the digestive tract and attached glands: these are mainly the liver and the pancreas. Among the most common non-neoplastic diseases of the digestive tract we can mention gastroesophageal reflux disease, gastric and duodenal ulcers, diverticulitis of the colon, celiac disease and chronic inflammatory intestinal diseases, more specifically Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. . Regarding liver diseases, we mention chronic hepatitis (viral, autoimmune, dysmetabolic, alcoholic), primary biliary cholangitis and primary sclerosing cholangitis. We cannot then neglect the functional disorders of the digestive tract, primarily the irritable bowel syndrome, which in industrialized countries is becoming the leading cause of gastroenterological examinations. In the last decade, the treatment of these morbid conditions has made great strides, although for some of them there is still no definitive cure and therefore require periodic checks to avoid or early treat exacerbations.