Digestive Disorders

Digestive Disorders: The signs and symptoms of digestive disorders are difficulty in swallowing, regurgitation, bleeding from the digestive tract, constipation and diarrhea. Some of the other symptoms include nausea, loss of appetite, flatulence and abdominal pain.

Signs of Digestive Disorders:

• Indigestion: This covers a whole spectrum of symptoms such as a sensation of having something stuck in your throat, regurgitation, nausea, vomiting, and dyspepsia.

• Abdominal pain: Generally, abdominal pain is minor, and if it is severe, then it could indicate a bigger problem. Abdominal pain can happen because of obstruction, uncoordinated muscle contractions, rupture or perforation of organs, ulcers, or blockage in blood flow to various organs.

• Bleeding from the digestive tract: Bleeding can happen anywhere along the digestive tract and the blood can even show up in the vomit. Blood can be bright red or brown, and can be passed along with stools. Bleeding often happens because of peptic ulcers, inflammatory bowel disease, NSAIDS, allergy to certain drugs, dilation of the esophageal varices and a problem in the connection between the veins of the intestines and arteries.

• Chest or back pain: Pain in the upper back or chest can happen because of problems in the aorta or heart, or problems in the esophagus. Gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD can cause a burning sensation below the breastbone. This often causes people to think that they have heart disease. Heartburn is another symptom to look out for.

• Constipation: when a person has infrequent bowels or uncomfortable bowel movements, then the condition is known as constipation. This can be chronic or acute. The former begins slowly and increases over the months. The latter happens suddenly. Constipation can cause problems like hemorrhoids as well as lead to high blood pressure (due to straining).

• Diarrhea: In this, the patient has watery stools and has very frequent bowel movements. People generally have a bowel movement once or twice a day and if you need to use the toilet every one or two hours, this would classify as diarrhea. Some of the other symptoms include vomiting, nausea, cramping and gas. If not treated immediately, diarrhea can cause dehydration as well as loss of electrolytes from the blood. The person may feel weak and can have other disorders due to weakness and exhaustion.

• Dyspepsia: This means a pain in the centre of the upper abdomen. The person may feel full, have a burning pain, and suffer from indigestion. Other symptoms include belching, flatulence, diarrhea, constipation, nausea, and poor appetite. Dyspepsia is often accompanied by loud intestinal sounds which is generally heard as a rumbling tummy.

• Fecal incontinence: This is the term used when a person loses control over his/her bowel movements.