Saibil's approach to diet and nutrition have a positive emphasis and are not influenced by the myriad of unproved, untested, anecdotal diets and diet books. The importance of adequate nutritional support in young, growing patients is emphasized. Drug therapy with 5-aminosalicylate, steroids, antibiotics and immunosuppressive agents is well covered. The author explains side effects without being alarmist. The section on novel therapies, such as enemas with xylocaine or short-chain fatty acids, adds little, since these remedies are not easily available to patients or their physicians.
Surgical therapy is described and illustrated.
A chapter presents the development of surgery for ulcerative colitis from 1930 to the present. Modern surgery is comprehensively explained, although, having never seen a continent ileostomy, I wondered why this procedure was explained in detail. Complications of IBD and therapy, and the risk of cancer caused by this disease, are handled in a clinical and forthright fashion. Prevention is emphasized. A section on living with the disease covers issues such as life and disability insurance, employment and quality of life.