Constipation is apparently not interesting. Even the large bowel is apparently too boring to have a presence on the internet. On Amazon I found a lovely volume by several experts published in 1992 about the large intestine in health and disease, but it is out of print. I suspect there are researchers even now figuring out amazing things regarding bowel function, especially with increasing belief in the importance of the intestinal microbiome. The neurology of the gut is fascinating. How exactly does food that is chewed and swallowed transit through a flexible tube, get stripped of its water and nutrients and eventually depart the body as perfect little packages of indigestables, fats and bacteria? Not to say that they completely failed to teach this subject in medical school. I definitely remember stuff about digestive enzymes and acid secretion in the stomach, the presence of bile in the small intestine aiding in fat absorption, semipermeable membranes, the portal vein which transpor
The cost of health care in the US is higher than anywhere else in the world, and yet we are not healthier than our peer nations. In fact, in terms of such measures as infant mortality and life span, we don't measure up. Why is this? Many people involved in providing or receiving care have some pretty good ideas about what costs so much, and what we can do to reduce costs and improve quality. Sharing these stories is an important step in creating affordable universal health care.