What are the red flags for gastrointestinal disease?
Specific red flag symptoms that warrant immediate referral include problems swallowing, palpable lumps in the stomach and significant unintended weight loss over the last six to 12 months.
Intestinal problems, such as polyps and cancer, infections, celiac disease, Crohn disease, ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis, malabsorption, short bowel syndrome, and intestinal ischemia.
How do you know if something is wrong with your intestines?
blood in your stools (faeces), which can make them look bright red, dark red, or black. a change in normal bowel habits lasting three weeks or more. unexplained weight loss and tiredness. an unexplained pain or lump in your tummy.
Gastric distress is a group of digestive disorders that are associated with lingering symptoms of constipation, bloating, reflux, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and cramping. These gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms can be caused by infections, food intolerances, food allergies or autoimmune diseases.
Lower abdomen. Your lower abdomen has most of your small intestine and large intestine. Lower abdominal pain is most likely to be related to gastrointestinal diseases.
What foods should you avoid with gastrointestinal problems?
Some people with chronic stomach discomfort are more sensitive to certain foods like dairy, spicy foods, soda, fried foods or alcohol. These foods can relax the muscle that keeps food from traveling backward, increase stomach acid production or keep the stomach full for too long.
Difficulty swallowing – sense of food sticking in your chest (your gullet/oesophagus) as it goes down.
Significant change in bowel function – this can happen for lots of reasons and by talking to you, your doctor will have a good idea if it needs further investigation.
"Any time you see blood in your stool or have rectal bleeding that is accompanied by changes in your bowel habits or to the color or consistency of your stool, it's critical that you see a gastroenterologist," warns Dr. Glassner.
Standard imaging tests for gastric conditions include upper gastrointestinal series (UGI), ultrasounds, MRIs, CT scans and X-rays. For an even clearer picture of the gastrointestinal tract, a barium swallow or barium enema may be used in conjunction with an X-ray.
When you are anxious, some of the hormones and chemicals released by your body enter your digestive tract, where they interfere with digestion. They have a negative effect on your gut flora (microorganisms that live in the digestive tract and aid digestion) and decrease antibody production.
Certain gastrointestinal disorders can be life threatening and require emergency treatment. For many people, emergency treatment involves surgery. Not all gastrointestinal disorders are treated with surgery (see Ileus.
Diverticulitis. The most common symptom of diverticulitis is belly or abdominal pain. The most common sign that you have it is feeling sore or sensitive on the left side of your lower belly. If infection is the cause, then you may have fever, nausea, vomiting, chills, cramping, and constipation.
The most common symptom of diverticular disease is intermittent (stop-start) pain in your lower abdomen (stomach), usually in the lower left-hand side. The pain is often worse when you are eating, or shortly afterwards. Passing stools and breaking wind (flatulence) may help relieve the pain.
Bacterial gastroenteritis is a digestive problem caused by bacteria. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, fever, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, and pain. In severe cases, you may become dehydrated and have an electrolyte imbalance. Bacterial gastroenteritis is sometimes treated with antibiotics.
Atrophic autoimmune gastritis (AAG) happens when your autoimmune system attacks your stomach cells. Providers diagnose EMAG and AAG with blood tests and endoscopy.
