We all know the name of Adolf Kussmaul because of the type of agonal breathing he described. Meanwhile, the legendary German professor became the founder of... What?

Watching a sword swallower in the circus, he conceived and then realized the creation of the first long gastroscope! Even though this rigid, unbending construction was imperfect and primitive and, I'm sure, made many patients suffer, but... in a small Bavarian clinic a bold leap into the future was made!.

Nowadays, thin, flexible endoscopes stuffed with unique optics and electronics are inserted daily into thousands of people all over the world, and not only through the mouth. However, 20 years ago, the small intestine was inaccessible for visualization. Today, if necessary, a person swallows - still sounds like a science fiction novel! - a tablet-sized video camera that transmits the image to a laptop monitor via Bluetooth! Expensive, yes, but possible!

This is how our work involves methods that are unique at first and then become routine. Not only gastroenterologists, but also “advanced” general practitioners test feces for calprotectin and lactoferrin, prescribe gas-liquid chromatography to evaluate the microbiota, and discuss increased intestinal permeability as the basis for many somatic diseases.

This issue is devoted to gastrointestinal diseases and their place in the work of the general practitioner.

Enjoyable and useful reading!

Prof. I.V. Egorov