Can food really take the place of medicine? While modern medicine certainly has its place and does more than its fair share of good, there is no denying that many of society's most perilous chronic diseases are exacerbated by poor diets. Whereas earlier infectious diseases used to cause the most death, the impact of chronic diseases now far overshadows that of infectious diseases. Diet plays a significant role in the development of a number of types of chronic disease, such as heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer. This title explores the impact of dietary choices on the prevention, management, and treatment of a number of medical conditions and disease states including the gastrointestinal tract, musculoskeletal disorders, rheumatic disease, anemias, hepatobiliary, gallbladder, pancreatic, and kidney diseases. The topics of nutrition and cardiovascular disease, diabetes and metabolic stress, critical illness, cancer and HIV/AIDS are covered in the subsequent title Diet and Disease I.