Digestive Disorders: Treatment, Procedure, Cost and Side Effects

People very often tend to feel uneasy, right after taking your lunch or for that matter any meal. At that point of time, neither do you feel like doing anything nor do you understand what has gone wrong with your health. This is quite common after-effect of eating, which is mainly related to the digestive process.

There are always certain symptoms, which if you carefully notice, you can pinpoint right before the completeion of any meal. 

• You can feel stuffy pretty easily even after having something in moderate quantity
• A sense of tiredness might creep in, just when you are about to finish your meal
• You might go through a feeling of nausea, which might be the result of indigestion due to the problem of ulcer or gallbladder disease.

What leads to people feeling sick after having a meal?

Food poisoning is one of the foremost problems, due to which you might all of a sudden start feeling unwell after having your food.

• There are food items like curd, which if kept in the open for too long, can easily get contaminated and cause food poisoning.
• Consuming too much of spicy items as well as those containing fat, can have ill effect on your health, thereby resulting in uneasiness.
• Too much eating at a time can also result in people having discomfort due to the time taken for digestion.
• Allergy from any particular food item might also result in you feeling restless or sick after having your meal.

What can you do to avoid having this problem?

There are certain ways through which you can prevent yourself from getting affected adversely after taking your meal. It is often said prevention is better than cure, so little bit of prevention might save you from having digestive pills or any related medicine, which you usually take as and when any sort of uneasiness creeps into your system. As the age old saying goes, ‘eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.’ Of course, this doesn’t mean that you would gobble up anything which comes your way during breakfast and lunch hours.

• Try not to have foods which are spicy or fried, especially during dinner time as most of the problems occur at night.
• It’s always preferable to have smaller meals on a frequent basis, rather than having three large meals in a day.
• Allow your food time to digest, so relax and sit still after eating.

So, we have discussed about the reasons for which you might feel sick right after having your meal, where now you are aware of the symptoms, what causes this problem and how can you prevent this problem from happening.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

Firstly, what you need to realise is that Alzheimer’s is not dementia and the main point you need to remember about the difference between the two is that the former is a disease while the latter is a syndrome. Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease, it breaks down the cognitive functions of the brain and reduces a person’s ability to function properly. It’s one of the foremost reasons for untimely senility in middle-aged to old-aged persons.

It can be a scary time for the patient themselves as well as for friends and family alike but fear not, there are ways to reduce the chances of suffering from this painful predicament. Here are a few easy hacks to keep in mind to stave off the risk of Alzheimer’s:

1. Fix your diet: Cut down on saturated fats and construct a diet combining lots of healthy vitamin and mineral rich foods, fruits and vegetables. Vitamin E is essential as well as vitamin B12 which can also be taken in the form of supplements. Vitamin E can be found in foods like spinach and even nuts. Rush University Medical Centre in Chicago has, after a lot of research, developed the MIND and DASH diets. The Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet collates portions of the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet to create the perfect combination that has been shown to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s by 53 percent.
2. Exercise mental and physical: A sedentary lifestyle is one of the major causes of Alzheimer’s because it leads to slower brain activity and an overall unhealthy lifestyle. To break out of this you need to regularly exercise and not just physical exercises but also mental exercises such as solving mental maths and crosswords and reading books and newspapers. There are a lot of apps concerning games that help boost brain activity on the market that can help as well. Physical exercise can include swimming, brisk walking, joking and even gardening.
3. Reduce stress: Stress proves to be a huge issue for the brain contributing to its damage by putting a lot of pressure on it. Try to relax more by improving your sleep cycle, resting as and when required, and not overworking yourself.
4. Aromatherapy: Essential oils have been shown to work wonders, by reducing stress and relaxing the mind. Lavender, rosemary, lemon and even orange are some great options you can try out. These oils can help rejuvenate damaged brain and nerve cells.
5. Meditation: Studies have shown that regular meditation helps boost grey matter in the brain, and along with yoga, keeps the minds and bodies of middle-aged people active and better focused contributing to the overall health of the brain.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

Your digestive organs together comprise one of the most important systems in your body. You have to be very careful about everything in your body as sometimes the most common digestive disorders, having the most common symptoms, can be seriously threatening as well. A number of different health issues can be related to problems with your digestive system, therefore you need to be very careful about your health and track any symptom which indicates a digestive disorder.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome
According to various studies, around 10-15% of the population faces the problem of irritable bowel syndrome in their lives, with almost twice as many women than men. This usually happens when there is a change in the functioning of the GI tracts. Constipation and diarrhea both can be observable problems in people with an Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Abdominal pain, changes in the bowel habits, cramping and other discomforts can be symptoms of IBS.

Celiac Disease
One of the most common diseases which affect around 2 million people in the US alone is Celiac Disease. This disease manages to damage the small intestine and also intrudes in the process of absorbing nutrients from the food. People affected by this disease are usually intolerant of various food products like wheat and barley among other items. Seizures, fatigues, vomiting, constipation, abdominal pain and more can be symptoms of celiac disease.

Crohn’s Disease
Crohn’s disease is categorized under an inflammatory bowel disease. This disease can affect any part of the GI tract ranging from the mouth to the anus. The reason for Crohn’s disease is largely unknown but observing symptoms like abdominal pain, skin rashes, diarrhea, and inflammation of the eye, weight loss, fever and more should be immediately checked by the doctors. People who smoke tobacco are two times more likely to develop this disease than those who do not smoke tobacco.

Gastroparesis
Women are more likely to get affected by gastroparesis than men as the process of emptying food from the stomach to the small intestine is slowed down and this is already a slow process in the case of women. Diabetes along with intestinal surgery and nervous system diseases are often the cause of this problem. Pain in the stomach, lack of appetite, bloating of the abdominal region are all symptoms of this disorder. This disorder can be a chronic disease in many cases and immediate diagnosis and treatment are suggested on observing the symptoms. In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

Ulcerative Colitis is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the lining of the intestine and the rectum. It is located just above the anus. Patients suffering from ulcerative colitis tend to have small ulcers in their rectum and the colon. These eventually flare up leading to diarrhea, bloody stools, anemia and abdominal pain. The inflammation starts from the rectum and eventually, spreads to the colon. Ulcerative Colitis tends to flare up and remit in an alternate phase. The remission can last from few weeks to few years.

Methods adopted to diagnose Ulcerative Colitis-
Ulcerative Colitis is very similar to an inflammatory bowel disease known as Crohn’s disease. The only differentiating factor is the fact that, ulcerative colitis affects the colon whereas, Crohn’s disease affects the digestive system and the small intestine. A doctor might prescribe certain tests such as the colonoscopy, blood tests, CT scan, pill camera, stool sample tests etc.

Why is surgery necessary to treat Ulcerative Colitis?
An estimated 40 percent of all Ulcerative Colitis patients need to undergo surgery to recover completely. The reason surgery becomes necessary to treat ulcerative colitis are the following:

1. Drug therapy and medication become ineffective.
2. Without undergoing surgery, the condition might increase the risk of developing cancer.
3. The colon has the risk of getting ruptured if surgery is not performed on time.
4. There could be excessive bleeding.
5. Toxic megacolon might set in.

Types of surgery available to treat Ulcerative Colitis
A procedure where the entire colon is removed is known as the colectomy. In case both the colons are removed, the procedure is termed as proctocolectomy. In this procedure, an external pouch needed to be attached to the stoma that collects the stools. There is another method known as pouch surgery.

Pelvic pouch or ileal pouch is also termed as IPAA. This procedure doesn’t involve permanent stoma. In this procedure, both the colon and the rectum are eradicated from the body. The small intestine is then used to form a J-shaped pouch, that serves as the new rectum. The pouch is then connected to the anus. The whole procedure is done via two surgeries.

What are the surgical complications of this procedure?

1. There could be an excessive bowel movement.
2. There are instances where an inflammation of the pouch is observed. This condition is known as pouchitis.
3. There could be a situation of intestinal blockage from adhesion due to surgery.
4. There could be pouch failure that can happen inside within 5 few years. This is observed in 4 out of 100 patients who are treated. In this case, the patient should go for a permanent ileectomy.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

A Gastrointestinal carcinoid tumor is a condition characterized by the formation of malignant tumor in the gastrointestinal tract. It may also affect the esophagus, gallbladder, liver, pancreas, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum, and anus (the accessory organs).

In Gastrointestinal carcinoid, the tumor is commonly the neuroendocrine tumor (the abnormal growth of cells and tissues originate from the nervous and the endocrine system).

Causes of Gastrointestinal carcinoid tumor:
Several factors may be responsible for gastrointestinal carcinoid tumor, the most common of which include

• Zollinger Ellison syndrome: It is a condition whereby multiple tumors (gastrinomas) may develop on the duodenum (mainly the upper part) and the pancreas. This abnormal condition leads to increased secretion of the hormone gastrin, which, in turn, triggers the stomach to produce acids in excess amounts. More than often, the syndrome results in peptic ulcers. Research suggests that people with Zollinger Ellison syndrome (if left unattended and untreated for long) may suffer from the gastrointestinal carcinoid tumor.
• Multiple Endocrine: Neoplasia Type-1 (formation of tumor in the endocrine gland as well as in parts of the stomach and small intestine) can also trigger Gastrointestinal carcinoid tumor (though rare).

Symptoms:
The symptoms associated with Gastrointestinal carcinoid tumor include

• Unexplained weight loss.
• Abdominal pain.
• Extreme tiredness, nausea, and vomiting.
• Stomach upset (a person may throw up), diarrhea.
• There is a loss of appetite. A person feels full all the time (even after eating only a small morsel of food).
• Difficulty in swallowing the food (in the case of the tumor in the esophagus).
• The stool may appear black and tarry (due to bleeding into the small intestine and the stomach). The stool may also appear red (if the bleeding is into the large intestine).

Women are more likely to be affected by than their male counterparts. The aged people are slightly more susceptible to Gastrointestinal carcinoid tumors.

Diagnosis and treatment:
Diagnosis of gastrointestinal carcinoid tumors include

• Physical examination.
• Urine and blood tests play a pivotal role in determining the protein and hormone levels, thus making the diagnosis more efficient and accurate.
• Certain imaging tests such as MRI, CTscan, X-rays, PET.
• Biopsy.
• Endoscopy and Colonoscopy.
• OctreoScan is the scan, the doctor injects a substance called octreotide (in combination with a radioactive material) into the body and monitors the amount of octreotide absorbed by the body. Absorption of large amounts of octreotide indicates the presence of a tumor.
• MIBG scan: The test is identical to OctreoScan except the substance used here is MIBG.

As with most cases of cancer, the treatment for Gastrointestinal carcinoid tumor include

• Surgery: Depending on the stage and the severity, surgery may be needed to remove the tumor.
• Radiation Therapy: High beam rays are used to kill the cancer cells.
• Chemotherapy: Drugs are administered orally or intravenously to get rid of the cancer cells.
• Hormone therapy: Hormone therapy may be used to treat gastrointestinal carcinoid tumors. Here, doses of synthetic hormones (Lanreotide and Octreotide) are given to the patients. These hormone work by blocking the hormones produced by the tumor cells.
• Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is a minimally invasive procedure to assess digestive (gastrointestinal) and lung diseases. A special endoscope uses high-frequency sound waves to produce detailed images of the lining and walls of your digestive tract and chest, nearby organs such as the pancreas and liver, and lymph nodes.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!