Nutrition plays an increasingly important role for the health and well-being of patients and is closely related, not only to the prevention of various diseases of the digestive system, but also to the treatment of metabolic, chronic inflammatory and neoplastic diseases. For this reason, the Italian Society of Gastroenterology (Sige) is organizing a national course in clinical nutrition whose main purpose is to bring gastroenterologists, especially the younger ones, as close as possible to the issues of clinical nutrition. This year the appointment is in Verona, running until October 29, with the aim of creating a permanent Sige School of Nutrition in the coming years. “The digestive system is the organ responsible for the absorption of nutrients, and the onset of diseases of the digestive system alters the nutritional status. On the other hand, nutrition can favor the onset of digestive diseases, such as celiac disease – explains Luca Frulloni, director of the course and member of the Sige board of directors. The role of the gastroenterologist is therefore of significant importance – not only in the treatment of diseases of the gastro-intestinal tract that can cause malnutrition – but as a “prescriber” dietary advice that can avoid problems related to malnutrition. “The course provides an updated overview of nutritional problems relating to the main diseases of the digestive system and their diagnostic-therapeutic management, as well as the work tools suitable for an integrated clinical approach. course is made even more necessary by the Covid pandemic and the lockdowns that have affected our lifestyles, also involving our eating habits, with variations in the quantity and quality of foods eaten, which have contributed to the increase in digestive disorders. Nutrition also has significant consequences on the prevention and prognosis of metabolic, chronic inflammatory and neoplastic diseases. The gastroenterologist therefore has a double role: to feed patients well to adequately treat digestive diseases but also to contribute to prevention and to improve the quality of life of patients. This is why Sige focuses heavily on the integration of nutritional and gastroenterological knowledge, with the aim of creating and supporting a real ‘School of Nutrition’, with a training course through face-to-face but also interactive lessons, in the field, in the centers that they deal with nutrition. “It is a project that we intend to fully implement next year – concludes prof. Frulloni “. “The integration of gastroenterological knowledge with nutritional ones represents the best basis for a correct approach by the gastroenterologist to the relevant pathologies – concludes Bruno Annibale, president of Sige -. We are very proud to help ensure the health of our patients through these types of initiatives ”.
