To see an alphabetical site map click here
- Common Digestive System Disorders
Stomach and Duodenal Ulcers
Ulcers are open sores or lesions. They are found in the skin or mucous membranes of areas of the body. A stomach ulcer is called a gastric ulcer and an ulcer in the duodenum is called a duodenal ulcer. Lifestyle, stress and diet used to be thought to cause ulcers. These things may have a role in ulcer formation; they are not the main cause of them. Scientists now know that ulcers are caused by hydrochloric acid and pepsin that are contained in our stomach and duodenal parts of our digestive system and that these acids contribute to ulcer formation.
- Conditions Disorders Diseases of the Digestive System
Most people have heard of Cystic fibrosis, a chronic, inherited disease in which production of thick mucus blocks the ducts in the pancreas. This blockage prevents digestive juices from entering into the intestines. Without these juices it is difficult to breakdown and digest proteins and fats. When these ingredients are not digested the body can't use them and they pass through the body without being used.
Liver damage is a possibility when individuals contract hepatitis, which is a viral infection of the liver.
- Facts about Colorectal Cancer
If you are diagnosed with colorectal cancer treatment will depend on your age, your overall health at the time, the extent of the disease, your tolerance for medications, what the doctor suspects will be the expectation for the course of the disease, and of course your own input and preferences. Treatment also depends on the stage of the cancer tumor, if it has spread and how far it has spread by the time it is caught.
- Facts About Stomach Cancer
Another test is the endoscopic ultrasound which is an imaging technique used to send sound waves to create a computer image for the doctor to look at your esophagus and stomach. The endoscope goes past the mouth and throat and guided into the esophagus and stomach. A sample of tissue may be taken and sent for a biopsy.
Treatment for stomach cancer if you have it includes: chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and also surgery to remove any cancerous tissue. A gastrectomy may be done to remove part of the stomach. The surgery to remove the entire stomach is called: gastrectomy.
- Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and Irritable Bowel Syndrome
IBS does NOT cause permanent harm to the intestines; it does not lead to intestinal bleeding of the bowel and does not lead to any serious disease such as cancer. There is also NO link between IBS and Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
The person with IBS has a more sensitive colon than the average person. It does not take much for the colon to spasm when the person has IBS. Women who have IBS tend to have more symptoms during their period, which may mean that the reproductive hormones have something to do with increased IBS symptoms
- Lactose Intolerance a Common Digestive Disorder
Sometimes lactose is found in unlikely foods because it is added to prepared foods such as bread and other baked goods, processed breakfast cereals, instant potatoes, soups, and breakfast drinks, margarine, lunch meats (not kosher ones), salad dressings, candies and other snack items, and mixes such as those for pancakes, biscuits and cookies.
You also have to be careful about nondairy products such as coffee creamer, and whipped toppings because they may be made with ingredients that are derived from milk and can therefore also contain lactose.
- Hepatitis Digestive Disorder
Hepatitis C
This virus shows mild if any symptoms and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hepatitis C is the leading cause for liver transplantation. At the present time no mode of transmission for hepatitis C has been identified. It is known that individuals that have alcoholic liver disease often get hepatitis C.
Other individuals at risk for hepatitis C include:
Babies born to moms who have the disease
Individuals with blood clotting disorders such as hemophilia that received clotting factors prior to 1987
- Why You Have Digestive System Disorders
Step #6 is the last step in the digestion process and that is that the nutrients from all the digested material need to be absorbed by the walls of the intestine. The parts of the material that are not to be used as nutrients for the growth of cells or energy for the body are called "wastes". The waste products are made up of not only the unused parts of what has been digested but also food parts known as "fiber", older cells that have been shed by the mucosa. All of these waste products are now moved into the colon. Once in the colon the waste products remain for approximately one to two days until muscles move them along to be expelled as a bowel movement out your anus.
- Your Stomach or Duodenal Ulcer
Your doctor will determine the correct treatment for you depending on the location of the ulcer, the size and your age. Other factors that will determine your treatment are your overall health, and your medical history, your tolerance for medications, procedures and therapies, what the doctor determines to be the expected course of the disease, and of course your opinions or preferences for treatment.
It may be suggested that you make some lifestyle changes including avoiding or limiting any foods that the individual finds to be irritating to their symptoms, and smoking has been shown to delay the healing of ulcers; so decreasing the habit or quitting will be advised.
- What Makes Up The Digestive System the Disorders of This System
The food and liquid follow the tract in orderly fashion being moved along by these involuntary movements. The first area that the food and liquid pass through is the esophagus, then the stomach. The stomach has 3 functions to complete in the digestive process. The stomach stores, mixes and empties food and liquid. After the stomach completes these 3 functions it empties the contents into the small intestine. The juices of the pancreas, liver, and intestine are used to further digest the food, and then the contents of the small intestine are mixed and pushed further where it is further digested. The digested nutrients are absorbed through the intestine walls and the waste products (parts not used by the body), including undigested parts of food
|