Gastro Health

Gastro Health

Indigestion is the most often pronounced ailment of modern times branching out into varied abdominal diseases. The most common one would be Gastritis. Gastritis and peptic ulcer disease involve damage to the lining of the stomach or duodenum (the first segment of the small intestine).

Causes Of Gastric Problems

Some digestive disorders are long-lasting and serious, whereas others resolve themselves in a few days and have no permanent effects.

Food allergies and food intolerance: Read more here about the difference between food allergies and food intolerance. Certain foods can cause allergic reactions, including the swelling of the lips, mouth, the back of the throat. They can also lead to nausea and vomiting, but this will take longer to develop. Abdominal pain can also be caused by food intolerance. 

Poor diet: A diet high in fatty, fried and sugary foods and low in fiber can cause stool to pass more slowly through the colon. Inadequate water intake can also lead to constipation, and this can contribute to many other digestive disorders.

Inflammation and autoimmune diseases: These disorders, in which the immune system attacks and harms the body’s own tissues, can involve any part of the digestive system, according to the journal Medica. Autoimmune diseases that affect the digestive tract include systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren’s Syndrome and scleroderma, to name but a few. Systemic autoimmune diseases cause a variety of gastrointestinal problems.

Structural causes: A structural abnormality in the digestive system (such as the pouches that develop in the intestines of someone with diverticulosis) can hamper the working of the digestive system. An ulcer in the stomach lining or the intestines would be another example, as would be a cancerous tumor.

Genetic causes: Some digestive diseases are thought to be hereditary. These include colon cancer, Crohn’s disease, diabetes type 1, pancreatic cancer, hypothyroidism, cystic fibrosis, coeliac disease, and some liver diseases. As the digestive system consists of so many different parts, only the most common ones are listed here. Read more about the organs of the digestive system and what could go wrong with them.

Lifestyle choices: Constant high-stress levels, a lack of exercise, smoking, and drinking can all affect the digestive system. While it is difficult to isolate a single cause of something such as GORD, a healthy lifestyle and diet choices can relieve the severity and the frequency of episodes of this disorder.

Medication side effects: Many medicines, such as certain antibiotics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories and certain diabetes medications, to name but a few, can have side effects that involve the digestive system. Nausea, diarrhea, ulceration and constipation count among these.

Cancer: Gastrointestinal cancer is a term for the group of cancers that affect the digestive system, says the GI Cancer Institute. This includes cancers of the throat, gallbladder, liver, pancreas, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and anus. Cancer is a malignant growth or tumor caused by an uncontrolled division of cells, which can spread into surrounding tissues.

Post-surgical effects: Surgery changes most of the time that anatomy of the digestive tract.  Problems include chronic diarrhea after gallbladder surgery or resection of part of the bowel, pain or even obstruction of the bowel, malabsorption (i.e. vitamin B12 deficiency in surgery for Crohn’s disease, or iron deficiency after stomach resection, etc.), and diabetes after pancreas resection.

Functional problems: Very commonly patients experience symptoms related to the gastrointestinal system, but all the tests are normal.  This can be frustrating to both patient and doctor because it is difficult to treat. Irritable bowel syndrome is one of these functional disorders.  The tests usually exclude other serious diseases such as cancer, but the symptoms often affect the patient’s quality of life.

Ageing: Unfortunately the gastrointestinal system ages with the rest of our bodies.  Our saliva decreases, the taste is affected, reflux gets worse, motility if affected, the diverticular disease develops, etc.  We should also be aware that the risk for certain cancers also increases. The recent onset of new symptoms should therefore not be ignored.

Systemic diseases:  Many systemic diseases affect our gastrointestinal systems, such as autoimmune diseases (i.e. scleroderma that affects the motility of the gut), heart failure (the chronic congestion can cause liver cirrhosis), genetic diseases, HIV and diabetes

Signs Of Gastric Problems

The most common gas symptoms include burping, passing gas, bloating, and pain or discomfort in your abdomen. Gas symptoms vary from person to person.

• Burping- Burping, or belching, once in a while, especially during and after meals, is normal. If you burp a lot, you may be swallowing too much air and releasing it before the air enters your stomach.

• Passing gas- Passing gas around 13 to 21 times a day is normal. More frequent actions can be a sign of gastric problems.

• Bloating- Bloating is a feeling of fullness or swelling in your abdomen. Bloating most often occurs during or after a meal.

• Pain or discomfort in your abdomen- You may feel pain or discomfort in your abdomen when gas does not move through your intestines normally.

Prevention

Whether your gastric pain is diagnosed as non-ulcer dyspepsia or due to a more specific cause, making some simple lifestyle changes can lower your risk of experiencing gastric pain symptoms:

1. Eat smaller but more frequent meals. If you often suffer from indigestion, have five to six smaller meals a day, rather than three square meals.

2. Eat on time and avoid skipping meals. This will accustom your stomach to release its gastric juices only during mealtimes and not erratically.

3. Consume less irritating foods. Cutting down on spicy, acidic, fried or fatty foods helps reduce gastric symptoms and allows your stomach to heal.

4. Drink alcohol in moderation. Excessive amounts of alcohol may weaken your stomach’s protective lining, making you more susceptible to ulcers.

5. Quit smoking. Smoking increases the production of stomach acid, slows down healing and increases your risk of getting stomach cancer.

6. Better manage your stress. High stress increases the production of gastric juices in your stomach. Exercise regularly and adopt relaxation activities such as yoga to keep your stress in check.

Common Medications

The common medicines used to treat the problem of our gastrointestinal systems are:

• Famocid

• Aciloc

• Omez

• Vomistop

• Voveran

• Nexpro

• Razo

• Omesac

• Pantolac

• Arthrotec etc.

If you are planning to buy gastro health drugs online, make sure to buy them from a reliable online pharmacy. Failing to do so may result into severe health complexities.