Comorbid diseases of the gastrointestinal tract in individuals of working age

The problem of comorbidity is one of the most challenging ones in clinical medicine. Practicing physician often have to treat patients with a combination of several diseases of the same system of organs. Such situations are quite common due to high prevalence of many diseases and their rather close pathogenetic relationships. Each disease can mask or change clinical manifestations of the other one or even aggravate its course. Comorbidities almost always create a new clinical situation that requires consideration of its specific characteristics in diagnosis and treatment. Sometimes a drug, which is effective against one disease, can lead to a significant deterioration of the concomitant disorder. Among all systems of organs, the digestive system is the one, which is most likely to develop concomitant diseases. Thus, a patient with comorbid pathology of the gastrointestinal tract is a rather difficult patient requiring special attention and individual approach, because the symptoms and diseases share the same pathogenetic mechanisms and require accurate differential diagnosis. Therefore, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of concomitant gastrointestinal diseases are challenging, which worsens both treatment outcomes and patient’s quality of life.