How to predict the future (outcome of gastrointestinal disease).
This short review is aimed to illustrate three simple rules to predict the outcome of a gastrointestinal disease. The first rule relates to the principle of WYSIWYG, that is, "what you see is what you get." To predict the future of a given digestive disease, the gastroenterologist needs to pay close attention to its present appearance and develop clear understanding of its pathophysiology. To delineate future trends, as a second rule, the gastroenterologist needs to delineate past trends and try to extrapolate them into the near future. Third, the length of the past medical history also provides a reliable estimate for the expected future lifetime of a gastrointestinal disease. These rules enable gastroenterologists to enlighten themselves, as well as their patients, about the future outcome of a given gastrointestinal disease.
Portland VA Medical Center and Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA. sonnenbe@ohsu.edu
Amnon
A
Sonnenberg
D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis