Burden of Digestive Diseases in the United States Part I: Overall and Upper Gastrointestinal Diseases

Introduction to Series: Digestive, liver, and pancreatic diseases have a far-reaching medical, economic, social, and political impact on society in the United States and worldwide. We believe it is important to highlight salient features as well as key tables/figures from the report that was commissioned by the National Institutes of Health on the burden of digestive, liver, and pancreatic diseases in the United States. Divided into three segments, this series, spanning consecutive issues in Gastroenterology, will be informative and illuminating. The series will provide investigators, clinicians, and other readers with the necessary tools to generate new hypotheses, craft new directions of broad-based and integrated research, and make informed clinical conclusions. Hashem B. El-Serag, Associate Editor. Anil K. Rustgi, Editor. © 2009 AGA Institute.