Volume 84 - 2021 - Fasc.4 - Editorial
Essential reading from the editor’s desk
Functional gastrointestinal disorders like irritable
bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional dyspepsia (FD) are
highly prevalent with a significant impact on the quality
of life (1). Unfortunately, the pathophysiology remains
poorly understood even if it is clear that a disturbed
bidirectional communication between the brain and the
gut, i.e. the brain-gut axis, is involved (2). These insights
led to the renaming from functional gastrointestinal
disorders to ‘disorders of gut-brain interaction’ (DGBI)
since the last iteration of the Rome criteria (3). In the
current issue of the Acta Gastro-enterologica Belgica,
Van Nieuwenhove and colleagues report an increased
prevalence of IBS and a similar tendency for FD in 44
patients with liver steatosis vs. a control group of 33
patients with a normal liver on ultrasound (4).
