How to Confront Common Digestive Diseases?

When our food habits change its pattern frequently, it affects the equilibrium of our digestive process. Though most of them are not so serious, they can enough to kill our peace and take away our sleep. It also affects all our daily activities and several pre-planned decisions without any reason. Through this column let us go through a few similar digestive conditions enough to upset us, how to identify them and a few simple steps to get rid of them.

If food is not taken at right time, it can lead to gastric troubles. In a few cases, problems occur soon after they take food after a long time. It’s not easy to explain the problems related to gastric troubles. If digestion process is out of rhythm, it affects body health too. It also affects concentration during work and daily activities. If you are able to change your life style a little bit, you can get rid of most of the problems affecting your digestive tract. Also read: A few useful tips to get rid of acidity.

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)

1. Heartburn, stomach pain, and burping, and a discomfort starting from the upper side of stomach to chest are some of its common symptoms.

2. This condition occurs when stomach contents flow up from the stomach back into the esophagus, giving you a lot of discomforts including sour taste in the throat. Troubles in the functioning of muscles which separate stomach and esophagus lead to this condition.

3. If the process is frequent (where food substances mixed with acid travel backwards), it results in swelling of esophagus. The acidic nature of food can burn the walls of esophagus too. In a few cases, it results in severe pain, and often misinterpreted as heart attack.

4. As a part of contraction of esophagus, a few may feel difficult to swallow food substances. Such a condition gives the feel that food has got struck in throat.

5. If symptoms are visible, avoid food items like chocolates, carbonated drinks, high caloric/fat food items, coffee, liquids with sour taste, alcohol etc.

6. Keep your head in raised position while sleeping. Also use loose undergarments. Both of them provide some quick remedies. If you feel discomforts, seek the help of a doctor.

7. Conditions similar to burping may be a symptom to asthma also. So never hesitate to seek the help of a doctor.

Ulcers which give a burning pain

1. When sores develop in the lining of the stomach, lower esophagus, or small intestine, peptic ulcer could be the reason. Its main symptoms include burning feel and pain above the area of naval. Vomiting feel may accompany it very frequently. Stomach pain during hunger, heartburn, burning feel of stomach etc could be other symptoms.

2. Ulcer affects stomach and the areas of intestine which join with stomach. It happens due to the wounds and cuts formed in the inner walls of affected areas of intestine and stomach.

3. Ulcers are very common in those who intake food items of extra chili and sour flavours in excess. Excess use of certain painkillers can also lead to ulcers. But it may not give the symptoms of burning feel or pain. Stress and mental pressure can also lead to peptic ulcer.

4. Smoking and drinking can increase the chances of forming ulcers, and also in those with kidney problems.

5. As it’s not fully possible to detect the disease conditions using symptoms, the most effective method could be endoscopy. It also helps to confirm if intestinal ulcers are not related to cancer. Endoscopy treatments which control the bleeding in ulcers are also available now.

6. Ulcers are completely curable. Antibiotics and piles belonging to proton pump inhibitors category are used for this purpose. Yet in a few critical cases, surgery may be conducted.

7. Have food at regular intervals, and avoid fried items as much as possible. Both these safety measures can prevent ulcers to great extent. Never take painkillers without doctor’s prescription.

Intestinal cancer

1. Intestinal/colon cancer is most frequent in aged people. A feeling of filled stomach, disinterest to food, lack of digestion and vomiting feel are preliminary symptoms.

2. As symptoms are not exhibited easily and the disease spreads rapidly, the disease is detected only in the final stages. Vomiting and presence of indigested food taken earlier, vomiting blood (sometimes in black colour), blood remains in fecal matter and sticky nature, lack of blood, excess tiredness and slimming of body are some of the symptoms.

3. Patients with problems of ulcer for prolonged periods should consult a doctor for detailed diagnosis. Same is the case of persons belonging to the age group 40-50 years, where ulcer conditions appeared for the first time.

4. Excess use of processed and tinned food, fried foods, pickles, salt, alcohol etc can lead to colon cancer.

5. Endoscopy is the most effective method to detect and diagnosis the disease condition. A patient may require medicines to surgery, in accordance with the intensity of disease stages.

The relation between mind and stomach

1. Stomach diseases and mental health are mutually co-related. Mental stress as a part of job or family problems can also reflect as stomach problems.

2. You need to identify the issue first, fix it and then take treatment. This condition is also known as Functional Mobility Disorder, as diagnosis may not give a clear idea. Apart from the disease symptoms felt by the patients, loss of weight or blood, presence of blood in stool etc point to the disease condition. These conditions should also be cured.

3. Movement of intestine follows a particular pattern and known by the name peristalsis. It’s deeply linked with the mental stages of each individual. In some persons, its speed is high while very slow in some cases. Frequently going to toilet or constipation issues may be due to this reason.

4. Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a quite common condition, which shows off either as constipation or diarrhea and is commonly seen in women. Restless and pain in the lower side of belly, feeling to go to toilet frequently, swelling stomach etc are common symptoms.

To make the digestion process easy

1. When you chew the food well, saliva mixes with food particles and digestion process is half completed. When food travels as semi-solid through esophagus and reaches stomach, digestion process turns easier. So the persons who eat food in haste are prone to digestive problems most.

2. Eat food only when you are hungry. Drinking water while eating food reduces the production of enzymes which catalyze digestion process. It reduces the speed of digestion process. It’s always good to drink water after completing the meal.

3. Eat only 80% food which you want to eat. The rest 20% should be spared for water. When you eat excess, digestion process turns complex which gives you tiredness in return.

4. If digestion process is to complete perfectly, functioning of small intestine should be smooth. Problems in digestive enzymes or walls of intestine can adversely affect the digestion process. Never lay soon after you take meals. It can block the easiness of digestive process.

5. Vomiting and ulcer could be the after effects of digestive problems. It’s mainly due to lack of certain nutrients. So, you should consult doctor as early as possible.

Things to note while taking tablets

1. Thin layer of esophagus can be wounded easily. So drink sufficient water while taking medicines. If tablets stay in esophagus for long time, due to the effect of medicines, it may get wounded, known as Pill Esophagus in medical terms.

2. Before and after taking steroids, antibiotics and painkillers, drink sufficient water.

If blood is vomited

1. Wounds in esophagus and stomach and cancer can lead to internal bleeding and vomiting of blood too. If ulcer patients are not given treatment at proper times, wounds may lead to internal bleeding. It’s a serious disease condition.  

2. Blood content in stool is also one of its main symptoms. But black coloured stool may not be easily noticed, leading to serious disease conditions.

3. If inner walls of stomach are filled with wounds, it may result in internal bleeding and vomiting too. If conditions are not treated at required time, it may turn severe and holes may be formed in stomach and intestine. It’s the worst stage of ulcers. Surgery could be the only remedy.

4. Vomiting of blood may be due to other disease conditions too. So if you observe blood content, never make it late. Consult a doctor as early as possible.

Image source: Pixabay

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