[On the front cover: as indicated by the inscriptions above their heads, "Galienus" and "Ipocras", and the different shapes of the medicinal vessels, are the "images" of two of the greatest figures of ancient medicine, Hippocrates and Galenos. The double 'portrait', which adorns the altarpiece of the medieval cathedral of Anagni, a small Italian town near Rome, was painted around 1250 and, in keeping with the style of painting and iconographic tradition of the time, depicts the Greek physicians as elderly sages with generalised features. ]

[The Galleria Nazionale in Rome houses a portrait of a bare-breasted young woman. Tradition, confirmed by the signature on the bracelet (RAPHAEL VRBINAS), has for centuries identified the painting as the work of Raphael and the sitter as one of the "amorous nature" of the painter.]

[New concept for the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has been accepted in the medical practice based on the information obtained in the last two decades about the pathogenesis of the disease. This new pathogenetical concept stimulated the revision of the current pharmacotherapy and the development of new classes of drugs. Several mechanisms are involved in the development of typical symptoms: the role of motility disorders, visceral hypersensitivity and alterations in the peripheral and central regulatory/modulatory pathways are clearly documented. The positive diagnosis is based on the evaluation of the leading and representative symptoms of the disease (Rome Criteria I and II) and this approach is helpful to define IBS in the cliniccal practice. ]

[The basis for the diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome is the evaluation of the patient's symptoms. The wide-ranging use of this diagnosis (irritable bowel syndrome, IBS) in the past was equivalent to the exclusion of different organic diseases. Today's use, as a „residual diagnosis" accompanies patients with severe clinical signs, psychiatric comorbidity and older age. Based on the Rome Consensus Criteria I and II, initiating the treatment based on dominant symptoms is an important part of the diagnosis. Diagnostic differentiation depend on the dominant symptoms, providing different strategies for cases having diarrhoea, obstipation or pain dominancy. ]