Liver, Biliary & Pancreas
Liver disease and GI bleeding, gallstones and bile acids, and pancreatic enzyme replacement.
The Failing Liver: Treating Its Complications, and Dosing Drugs Around It
The liver is the body's chemical factory — and when it fails, the problems ripple everywhere. Two clever treatments manage its worst complications, and a whole set of prescribing rules changes because the failing liver can no longer handle drugs normally. This is where the pharmacokinetics chapter comes back with real, life-or-death consequences.
GI Bleeding & Varices: Two Different Bleeds, Two Different Drugs
Bleeding into the gut is a medical emergency, and the drug you reach for depends entirely on where it's coming from. A bleeding ulcer and bleeding varices look similar but need opposite-seeming treatments — one an acid blocker, the other a drug that squeezes the blood vessels. Knowing the difference is genuinely lifesaving.
Gallstones & Bile Acids: When Surgery Beats Drugs
Gallstones are extremely common, and here's an honest lesson pharmacology doesn't always want to teach: for most of them, the best 'drug' is a scalpel. But there's one clever bile-acid medicine worth knowing, and understanding bile explains both why stones form and why the drug approach is so limited.
The Pancreas: Replacing Its Enzymes When It Fails
The pancreas has two completely separate jobs — you already know one of them from the diabetes chapter. This closing article covers the other: the digestive enzymes it makes, what happens when it can't make them, and the simple, elegant replacement that fixes it. It's a fitting end that ties the gut section back to endocrinology.
