Gastroenterology Coding Alert Magazine

Description

Gastroenterology Coding Alert Magazine

This magazine will enable readers to be more updated with the health threats when it comes to their digestive system. With the vast variety of commercial products, most specially when it comes to cooking, there are also substances which are not of benefit to human body. This may directly or indirectly affect human digestive system. This is the focus of this magazine – to wake up readers on the possible dangers modernization has brought to mankind.

Gastroenterology is the medical specialty that focuses on the human digestive system and the diseases that affect it. Specialists in the field are called gastroenterologists and they study and treat disorders of the esophagus, stomach, intestines, and colon as well as disorders of the organs involved in digestion.

Among the most common conditions that gastroenterologists care for are disorders of the stomach. Gastritis is an inflammation of the stomach lining that often results in abdominal pain and vomiting. Gastritis may be caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, viral infections, stress, allergies, and reactions to substances.

Gastroenterologists also specialize in treating peptic ulcers or erosions in the lining of the stomach or the first portion of the small intestine. Gastroenterologists prescribe antibiotics that kill this bacterium, as well as medications that buffer the acidity in the stomach or slow the stomach's secretion of digestive acids. Gastroenterologists treat many diseases related to other organs involved in digestion.

Gastroenterologists use a variety of highly specialized tools to diagnose, and treat disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. In a procedure called endoscopy, physicians use an endoscope to examine internal body cavities. Endoscopes are fitted with specialized attachments that enable the physician to remove small tissue samples for laboratory analysis.

Those seeking a career in gastroenterology must first earn a medical degree, then complete a three-year in-hospital training program called a residency, followed by two years of specialized training in gastroenterology and a certification exam.

Notes

Updated: Dec 7, 2010.