Significant scientific progress has been made in recent years in the aetiopathogenesis of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), that has changed or will change in the future the diagnostic and therapeutic approach in these diseases. The relevance of classical conventional IBD therapies has been critically re-evaluated under criteria of evidence-based medicine approaches. On the other hand, new therapeutic options have emerged. These include modern immunomodulators, biologics, probiotics, worm eggs and extracorporeal therapies. The clinical relevance of these new modalities is often...

This book contains the proceedings of Falk Symposium 157, entitled Chronic Hepatitis: Metabolic, Cholestatic, Viral and Autoimmune, held in Freiburg, Germany, in October 2006: one of three symposia during the XIII Falk Liver Week 2006. It provides up-to-date information on new developments in the field of chronic hepatitis and its various entities.

This book is the proceedings of the Falk Symposium 158, on 'Intestinal Inflammation and Colorectal Cancer', held in Seville, Spain, on 23--24 March 2007.

The past 15 years have brought significant progress in the molecular understanding of colon carcinogenesis and tumour progression. This knowledge originated primarily from familial cancer syndromes, extended to sporadic tumours and fuelled the development of target-specific drugs.

In contrast, the functional relationship between inflammation and the origin of cancer is not new. The German pathologist Rudolf L.K. Virchow had...

This book, the proceedings of Falk Symposium 163 "Chronic Inflammation of Liver and Gut," held in Hangzhou, P.R. China, on March 14--15, 2008, presents the most recent progress in chronic inflammatory diseases of liver and gut. It focusses on molecular understanding, the therapeutic state of the art and future options of treatment.

The first part of the book concentrates on basic and clinical aspects of IBD. Chapters demonstrate the role of the immune system, genetic factors and the intestinal microflora in IBD, and give an evidence-based update on the current diagnostic and...

This book, the proceedings of Falk Symposium 152 "Endoscopy 2006 - Update and Live Demonstration," held in Berlin, Germany, 4--5 May 2006 as part of the Intestinal Disease Meeting, provides an update on the entire spectrum of gastrointestinal endoscopy and its interface with gastroenterology as well as other disciplines. Endoscopy plays a pivotal role in gastroenterology and, vice versa, is crucially dependent on new developments and inventions in gastroenterology and basic sciences as well as technical progress.

The first section deals with the most relevant new technologies...

This book, the proceedings of the Falk Syposium No. 139 on -Gallstones: Pathogenesis and Treatment-, held in Freiburg, Germany, on January 15-16, 2004, reflects the tremendous advances in the field of biliary diseases both at the genetic and cellular as well as the clinical levels.

In industrialized countries, gallstones are a frequent clinical entity with a prevalence of 10-15%. In clinical practice one can differentiate between cholesterol stones, black pigment stones and brown pigment stones. 80-90% of gallbladder stones are cholesterol stones, 10--20% are black pigment...

This book, the proceedings of the Falk Symposium No. 146 Gut-Liver Interactions: Basic and Clinical Concepts, held in Innsbruck, Austria, on March 11-12, 2005, brings together gastroenterologists and hepatologists both at a clinical and a basic scientific level. Topics have been structured in such a way to be of interest to both clinicians and basic scientists. The main focus of the book is to highlight the role of the immune system in gut and liver diseases and potential interactions of the gut and the liver respectively. Special emphasis is based on the importance of the gut flora in...

Clinical and pathogenetic aspects of intestinal disorders have recently become of greater interest, partly due to the increasing incidence of intestinal disorders. However, our expanded knowledge, brought about by developing molecular biological sciences, provokes the need for more frequent discussion. Nowadays a wider range of diagnostic tools is available. Beside more sophisticated laboratory methods, the development of modern radiological techniques has opened new dimensions to diagnostic measurement. At the same time therapeutic methods have undergone numerous changes. New aspects are...