Digestive Health

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Abdominal Pain - The Causes, Symptoms & Treatments
Symptom

Abdominal Pain - The Causes, Symptoms & Treatments

Abdominal pain, commonly referred to as a stomach ache, is a discomfort or ache felt anywhere between the chest and pelvis. It is one of the most frequent reasons people visit their doctor or seek medical advice. While abdominal pain can be mild and short-lived, it can sometimes indicate a more serious underlying condition. Understanding the causes and symptoms of abdominal pain is essential for managing it effectively. The nature of the pain—whether it is sharp, dull, crampy, or constant—can provide important clues about its origin. By learning to identify what might be causing your discomfort, you can make informed decisions about whether to manage it at home or seek professional care. This guide will help you navigate the possible causes of abdominal pain, when it might be a cause for concern, and practical ways to find relief. Whether it’s a simple case of indigestion or something more serious, being informed is the first step to feeling better.\ \ You can also get pain that feels like colic – waves of sharp pain that can stop and start suddenly. Common causes of this abdominal pain are kidney stones and gallstones.

Blood in the stool
Symptom

Blood in the stool

Blood in the stools (your ‘poop’), or rectal bleeding, is where blood is found coming from the anus. You may notice this mixed in with the stool or after you’ve opened your bowels, either on the toilet paper or in the toilet itself. It’s always important to seek medical attention, as this indicates that some part of the gut is bleeding, although most causes are completely harmless. Your stool may be different colors if there’s been bleeding into it. If it’s bright red, it usually means a bleed somewhere near the rectum whereas darker red stool indicates that there may be bleeding higher up in the gut, or in the lower small intestine. Black, tarry stools indicate bleeding from much higher up, from the stomach or upper small intestine.

Itchy bottom
Symptom

Itchy bottom

There are a few common causes of an itchy bottom, and we may find no cause, in which case we call it pruritus ani. Threadworms (pinworms) are very common in children but rare in adults. This is a parasite infection causing intense itching around the anus and possibly the vagina, especially at night. You might notice tiny white worms around your child’s anus or mixed in poop. In adults, hemorrhoids may be to blame. You may be able to feel one lump or more around the anus, and it may be painful when you go for a poop. You may get a few streaks of blood in the toilet bowl or on toilet tissue. These are common, and treatments are available. Infections from a fungus or yeast (thrush can feel itchy and sore. The area will look pink, perhaps with tiny pink bumps and possibly flaky. Psoriasis can look similar but will likely be more red than pink, with a clear border, and is a more likely cause if you have psoriasis on other parts of the body. Eczema may appear around the bottom, especially if you have a tendency to it or irritation from any cream or treatments you are using, such as perfumed moisturizers, steroid creams, or ointments for anal fissures. Genital warts can appear as hard lumps around the anus and wider genital area and may be itchy. These are sexually transmitted and contagious to intimate partners. Finally, a condition called lichen sclerosus causes the skin to tighten, which can be itchy. You might see some white streaks on the affected area, making it look shiny and taut.

Nausea and vomiting
Symptom

Nausea and vomiting

Nausea and vomiting are common symptoms that can be caused by various factors such as motion sickness, migraine, anxiety, alcohol, medicines, and recent surgery.  The symptoms associated with nausea and vomiting depend on the underlying cause. Some common symptoms include an urge to vomit, or actual vomiting, not feeling like eating, severe headache, abdominal pain, vomiting blood, extreme weakness, high fever (over 101.3°F) blurred vision or eye pain, confusion, or stiff neck. How does it occur? The mechanism for nausea and vomiting is complex and involves many physiological processes. The vomiting center in the brainstem controls vomiting. The inner ear, intestines, and chemoreceptor trigger zone (CTZ) send information to the center. The brain's CTZ contains dopamine, serotonin, opioid, acetylcholine, and substance P receptors. Activating these receptors can cause nausea and vomiting. When activated, the CTZ sends signals to the brainstem vomiting center. The hub coordinates activities that cause vomiting. Increased salivation, deep breathing to prevent aspiration, heaving or retching before vomiting, and pyloric sphincter relaxation, which guards the lower end of the stomach, are examples of these phenomena.

Morning sickness
Symptom

Morning sickness

Morning sickness is very common in the early stages of pregnancy. It is estimated that up to 3 in 4 mothers experience nausea or vomiting, typically within the first 3-5 months of their pregnancy. Nausea is when you feel sick, and vomiting is when you are sick. Contrary to popular belief, morning sickness happens not only in the morning, but at any time of the day. It is quite unpleasant and, depending on the severity, can really affect your daily activities, but thankfully does not tend to negatively affect your baby. The cause is largely unknown, but it is suggested that it is related to the increased levels of pregnancy hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and hCG.

Constipation in pregnancy
Symptom

Constipation in pregnancy

Pregnancy brings exciting new beginnings, but it can bring new problems, too, as your body changes under the influence of hormones and the physical size of a growing baby. Constipation is one of these – it's common in the general population but even more common in pregnancy. Constipation describes either finding you are going less frequently or straining to have a bowel movement and producing hard pellets. Everyone is different – some go three times a day, and others go twice a week. But the aim is to produce soft, easily passed stool every time.

Constipation in children
Symptom

Constipation in children

Constipation can happen at any age but is particularly common in children. Let’s look at the science first. The food we eat goes through our stomach, into our small intestine where lots of the nutrients are absorbed, then into our large intestine (or colon) where most of the water is absorbed. After all these processes, you are finally left with stool. In the simplest terms, the less we drink, the harder and drier our stools are. So why does this matter more in children than adults? Well, as adults we have far more control over when we push out stool, and we accept that sometimes this can come with a bit of discomfort or pain. For a child, the pain of doing a poop is scary. They don’t understand it and they don’t like it. Therefore – like many learned habits at that age – they shy away from anything that causes discomfort and pain. This leads to a fear of going to the bathroom, which leads to a vicious cycle: more constipation, which, in turn, brings more discomfort.

Altitude sickness
Symptom

Altitude sickness

Altitude sickness is also known as acute mountain sickness. Altitude sickness can happen to anyone, no matter your fitness level, age or experience. It affects your breathing and your ability to take in oxygen. This can be life-threatening. It happens when you travel to a higher altitude too quickly, typically greater than 2500 m (about 1.5 miles) above sea level, often when mountain climbing, but also in cities that sit high above sea level.

Diarrhea in children
Symptom

Diarrhea in children

Diarrhea is common in children and babies and normally resolves on its own. In its mildest form it can be caused by eating something new or by teething in younger babies. It’s common for children to pick up viral infections from food or each other at nursery and school – these are usually short-lived, and they recover within a few days. In acute diarrhea, the main risk is dehydration. If it lasts longer than two weeks, it’s called chronic diarrhea and is worth discussing with your doctor, even if they appear well – toddler's diarrhea is one cause of chronic diarrhea. We will talk you through the different causes, when to worry, and when to seek medical help.

Diarrhea and vomiting – how to get through it
Symptom

Diarrhea and vomiting – how to get through it

Diarrhea and vomiting are something most of us have suffered with at some point in our lives. For many, it is a horrible week’s worth of symptoms, but eventually things begin to feel better. Here we will discuss some of the common questions patients ask their doctor about diarrhea and vomiting.

Light-colored poop
Symptom

Light-colored poop

Having regular pale stools is not usually normal. It can indicate that there could be problems with the gallbladder, liver, or pancreas. Bile salts are stored in the gallbladder and are produced and released by the liver and pancreas - they give poop its normal brown color. Any drainage problem involving any of these organs will cause your poop to become light or pale-colored. Therefore, it is important to see your doctor if this persists.

Possetting
Symptom

Possetting

Possetting is when your baby brings back up undigested milk after each feed. It's very common in the first few months of life. This happens because your baby's digestive system is not very well developed after birth. The valve between the food pipe and the stomach normally works to prevent the backflow of milk. However, as this mechanism takes time to develop, your baby may spit up milk frequently in the meantime. Coupling this with the fact that babies have little stomachs, and breastfeeding mothers tend to have an oversupply of milk at first, it’s easy to understand how possetting occurs.

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