From irritable bowel syndrome to dyspepsia
Stomach and intestinal complaints are terribly annoying. And there are many Dutch people who suffer from it. Complaints such as dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome, for example. When do you speak of functional abdominal complaints? And is there anything that can be done about it?
Functional abdominal complaints are complaints that arise due to an abnormal bowel movement. These can seriously hinder the quality of life. These are complaints for which no clear cause can be found, but where there is a disturbed function of the stomach, small and/or large intestine. Depending on the severity, frequency and nature of the complaints, a (large) part of the functional abdominal complaints is diagnosed as ‘irritable bowel syndrome’ (IBS) if it concerns the lower abdomen, or as dyspepsia if it concerns the upper abdomen. In addition, the complaints can concern the stomach, then we speak of functional stomach complaints.
Possible causes of functional abdominal complaints
- Movement disorders in the gastrointestinal tract
- Food and allergies/intolerances
- Lowered pain threshold in the gastrointestinal tract
- Psychosocial factors
- Disruption of the brain-gut axis
- Disturbed or abnormal intestinal flora
- Disturbed hormone balance
- The nerves in the brain and/or intestines do not work properly
- intestinal parasites
- Possible inflammatory cells in the intestines
- stomach flu or food poisoning
- Heredity
- stress
Food enters the esophagus through the mouth. There are muscles in the wall of the esophagus that push the food down. These muscles also ensure that the food does not rise again. There is a sphincter muscle (sphincter or sphincter) between the esophagus and stomach. This sphincter, called the cardia, opens when food travels through the esophagus to the stomach. The cardia also prevents food from flowing back from the stomach into the esophagus.
stomach problems
In the stomach, food is mixed with stomach acid and other digestive juices. The stomach acid has an important function in digesting our food and in making bacteria harmless. In addition, the strong muscles in the stomach wall regularly contract, so that the food is kneaded and therefore better digested. The exit of the stomach is closed by a second sphincter. This one is called porter or pylorus. The food is mostly digested after 1 to 3 hours. Then the door muscle always opens a small crack, allowing food pieces smaller than 2 millimeters to pass through to the intestine. This is where further digestion takes place.
About 15 to 20 percent of the Dutch population regularly has abdominal complaints such as abdominal pain, rumblings, a disturbed defecation pattern, nausea, a full, bloated feeling. About half of these have been diagnosed as IBS. We are talking about almost a million people with IBS, the number of people with functional abdominal complaints is even greater. Functional abdominal complaints are twice as common in women as in men.
Functional abdominal complaints include:
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
- Bloated feeling.
- Unexplained diarrhea or constipation.
- Unexplained nausea.
- Stomach ache.
- Dyspepsia
Dyspepsia
When something goes wrong with digestion, it’s called indigestion or “poor digestion.” Another name is dyspepsia. There are two forms; organic dyspepsia and functional dyspepsia. Half of all dyspeptic complaints are organic and half functional
Organic Dyspepsia
In organic dyspepsia, the stomach or esophagus is known to have defects. The best known forms are:
- Heartburn (reflux disease)
-
Gallstones or an inflamed gallbladder
- Meteorism (accumulation of gases or air in stomach/intestines)
- Peptic disorders (complaints caused by stomach acid)
- Gastrointestinal disorders
- Esophageal disorders
Causes of Organic Dyspepsia
The main causes of organic dyspepsia include:
- Damage to the mucous membrane of the stomach or small intestine due to the loss of the protective mucous layer (the mucosa barrier), for example by certain medicines such as ibuprofen, diclofenac and aspirin (NSAIDs).
- Infection with Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that occurs in many people in the gastric mucosa.
- Digestive Tract Disorders
-
reflux disease. The most common form of organic dyspepsia is heartburn, also known as reflux disease. In the Netherlands, about one in five people suffers from heartburn every week.
Functional Dyspepsia
Functional dyspepsia is chronic and is also called functional stomach complaints.
Typical dyspeptic complaints are:
- Bad taste in the mouth
- Bad breath
- Full feeling
- cramps
- Farmers
- can eat little
- Pain in the upper abdomen
- Burning sensation in the stomach
- Acid belching after exercise
- Backflow of stomach acid when bending or lying down
- Nausea/vomiting
What is PDS?
Another functional abdominal complaint is irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a chronic intestinal disorder in which the mobility (peristalsis) of the intestinal system is chronically disturbed. Under normal circumstances, the intestines ensure that the food is kneaded and transported. In IBS, the bowel movements are too fast or too slow. This is accompanied by abdominal complaints combined with abnormal bowel movements. IBS can have a major impact on a person’s life. IBS patients often experience misunderstanding and social problems.
While there is no known effective treatment for IBS, some medications, foods, and therapies may provide relief.
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