Treatments

Lots of people are intimately familiar with acid reflux symptoms. Acid reflux disease, also known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), can produce a variety of symptoms.

Symptoms:

• Heartburn: Also called acid indigestion, heartburn is a burning pain or discomfort that can move up from your stomach to the middle of your abdomen and chest.
• Regurgitation: Another common symptom of acid reflux is regurgitation or the sensation of acid backing up into your throat or mouth.
• Dyspepsia: Dyspepsia is a general term for stomach discomfort.Symptoms of dyspepsia include:
  • Burping
  • Nausea after eating
  • Stomach fullness or bloating
  • Upper abdominal pain and discomfort

When Do Acid Reflux Symptoms Occur?

Acid reflux symptoms most often occur:

• After eating a heavy meal.
• When bending over or lifting an object.
• When lying down, especially on your back.

People who have frequent acid reflux symptoms most often experience them at night. Nighttime GERD also produces the most pain. However, the level of pain does not always indicate the degree of damage to your esophagus.

More than half of all pregnant women experience heartburn during pregnancy. Increased hormones and pressure from a growing fetus can combine to produce this acid reflux symptom. In most cases, heartburn improves or completely goes away after delivery.

Heartburn is an irritation of the esophagus the tube that connects your throat and stomach. It's caused by stomach acid. This leads to a burning discomfort in your upper belly or below your breastbone.

Symptoms:

• A burning sensation in the middle of your chest or your throat.
• Pain in your chest when you bend over or lie down.
• A hot, acidic, bitter, or salty taste in the back of your throat.
• Difficult to swallow

How long does heartburn last?

It can vary. For some people, it can last just a few minutes. Sometimes it can last for several hours.

Heartburn happens about once a week for up to 20% of people and is common in pregnant women.

Constipation is a condition in which a person has uncomfortable or infrequent bowel movements. Generally, a person is considered to be constipated when bowel movements result in passage of small amounts of hard, dry stool, usually fewer than three times a week.

Symptoms:

• Difficult and painful bowel movements
• Bowel movements fewer than three times a week
• Feeling bloated or uncomfortable
• Feeling sluggish
• Abdominal pain

Causes:

• Medications
• Lack of exercise
• Not enough liquids
• Not enough fiber in the diet
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Ignoring the urge to have a bowel movement
• Changes in habits or lifestyle, such as travel, pregnancy, and old age
• Problems with intestinal function
• Abuse of laxatives

Colitis occurs when your large intestine is inflamed. It can cause pain and other symptoms. Different types of colitis require different treatments.

Symptoms:

• Abdominal pain and bloating that may be constant or come and go
• Bloody stools
• Constant urge to have a bowel movement (tenesmus)
• Dehydration
• Diarrhea
• Fever

Causes:

• Infections caused by a virus or a parasite
• Food poisoning due to bacteria
• Crohn's disease
• Ulcerative colitis
• Lack of blood flow (ischemic colitis)
• Past radiation to the large bowel (radiation colitis and strictures)

Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes inflammation and ulcers in your digestive tract. Ulcerative colitis affects the innermost lining of your large intestine, also called the colon, and rectum. In most people, symptoms usually develop over time, rather than suddenly.

Symptoms:

• Diarrhea, often with blood or pus
• Rectal bleeding — passing small amount of blood with stool
• Abdominal pain and cramping
• Rectal pain
• Urgency to empty the bowels.
• Inability to defecate despite urgency
• Weight loss
• Fatigue
• Fever
• In children, failure to grow.

Intestinal gas, a buildup of air in the digestive tract, is usually not noticed until you burp or pass it rectally (flatulence). The entire digestive tract, from the stomach to the rectum, contains intestinal gas as the natural result of swallowing and digestion.

Everyone passes gas several times daily, and occasional burping or belching is normal. However, excessive intestinal gas sometimes indicates a digestive disorder.

Symptoms:

• Belching (burping).
• Bloating.
• Flatulence (farting).

Gallstones are pieces of solid material that form in your gallbladder, a small organ under your liver. Your gallbladder stores and releases bile, a fluid made in your liver, to help in digestion. Bile also carries wastes like cholesterol and bilirubin, which your body makes when it breaks down red blood cells. These things can form gallstones.

Gallstones can range in size from a grain of sand to a golf ball. You might not know that you have them until they block a bile duct, causing pain that needs treatment right away.

Symptoms:

• Pain in your upper belly, often on the right, just under your ribs
• Pain in your right shoulder or back
• An upset stomach
• Vomiting
• Other digestive problems, including indigestion, heartburn, and gas

Signs of a serious infection or inflammation:

• Belly pain that lasts several hours or is severe
• Fever and chills
• Yellow skin or eyes

Crohn’s disease is a lifelong inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) which causes inflammation in part of your digestive system. Crohn's can affect any part of it, but it most often involves your small intestine and colon.

Symptoms:

• Long-lasting diarrhea, often bloody and with mucus or pus
• Weight loss
• Fever
• Belly pain and tenderness
• Rectal bleeding

Causes:

• Genes: About 20% of people who have it may have a close relative with either Crohn's or ulcerative colitis.
• Age: While Crohn's disease can affect people of all ages, it’s primarily an illness of the young below the age of 30.
• Smoking: Smoking can make Crohn’s more severe and raise the odds that you’ll need surgery.
• Medications: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen,naproxen, and similar medications don’t cause Crohn’s disease, but they can lead to inflammation of the bowels that makes it worse.
• Diet: If you eat a lot of high-fat or processed foods, your odds of Crohn’s could go up.
• Infection: Infection of bacteria like Mycobacterium aviumparatuberculosis causes Crohn’s disease.

Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a long, flat gland that sits tucked behind the stomach in the upper abdomen. The pancreas produces enzymes that help digestion and hormones that help regulate the way your body processes sugar (glucose).

Pancreatitis can occur as acute pancreatitis — meaning it appears suddenly and lasts for days. Some people develop chronic pancreatitis, which is pancreatitis that occurs over many years.

Symptoms:

Acute pancreatitis signs include:

• Upper abdominal pain
• Abdominal pain that radiates to your back
• Tenderness when touching the abdomen
• Fever
• Rapid pulse
• Nausea
• Vomiting

Chronic pancreatitis signs include:

• Upper abdominal pain
• Abdominal pain that feels worse after eating
• Losing weight without trying
• Oily, smelly stools

Causes:

• Gallstones
• Alcoholism
• Certain medications
• High calcium levels in the blood (hypercalcemia)
• Pancreatic cancer
• Abdominal surgery
• Cystic fibrosis
• Infection
• Injury to the abdomen
• Obesity

This is the most common type of Crohn's disease which is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It affects the last section of the small intestine, known as the ileum, and the colon.

Symptoms:

• Considerable weight loss
• Diarrhea
• Cramping
• Pain in the middle or lower right part of your abdomen.

Cirrhosis is a late-stage liver disease in which healthy liver tissue is replaced with scar tissue and the liver is permanently damaged. Scar tissue keeps your liver from working properly.

Symptoms:

• Fatigue.
• Easily bleeding or bruising.
• Loss of appetite.
• Nausea.
• Swelling in the legs, feet or ankles, called edema.
• Weight loss.
• Itchy skin.
• Yellow discoloration in the skin and eyes, called jaundice.
• Clubbing of the fingers, in which the fingertips spread out and become rounder than usual.
• For women, absence of or loss of periods not related to menopause.
• Confusion, drowsiness or slurred speech.

Causes:

• Long-term alcohol abuse.
• Ongoing viral hepatitis (hepatitis B, C and D).
• Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
• Cystic fibrosis.
• Obesity
• Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.
• Poorly formed bile ducts, a condition known as biliary atresia.
• Infection, such as syphilis or brucellosis.
• Certain medications.

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract starts at the esophagus (the tube that takes food from the mouth to the stomach) and ends at the anus (where waste exits the body). Sometimes, a tumor can form in one of these organs, after a change in the DNA causes abnormal cells to grow. What’s behind this kind of change (known as a mutation)? It could be anything from underlying conditions to lifestyle choices to genetics.

Symptoms:

• Abdominal cramping or pain
• Bloody or very dark stool
• Changes in bowel habits, such as diarrhea, constipation, or changes in consistency or narrowing of the stool
• Difficulty swallowing
• Digestive problems
• Jaundice (yellowing of the eyes and skin)
• Nausea and vomiting
• Swelling in the abdomen
• Tiredness, weakness, weight loss, or loss of appetite

Risk factors:

• Hepatitis A or B infection (liver cancer)
• H. Pylori infection (stomach cancer)
• Smoking
• Gastritis
• Alcohol consumption
• Being obese
• Previous surgery on one or more organs of the digestive system.
• Family history of GI cancer.
• Previous polyps growing in colon or stomach.