Thoroughly updated for its Fourth Edition, this classic two-volume work provides encyclopedic coverage of contemporary clinical gastroenterology. This edition has a new Associate Editor, Neil Kaplowitz, MD, who is a noted hepatologist. More than 30 new chapters focus on liver disease and the liver is incorporated into other chapters where appropriate. Also included are new chapters on alternative medicine, approaches to the patient with obesity, visceral sensory pathways, and economics of diagnosis and treatment. More than 30 percent of the contributors are new to this edition. Complementing the text are 2,000 illustrations.