Q.What is peritonitis?

A range of disorders can affect the digestive tract. Infections of the intestinal lining cause colitis; a protein-poor diet in growing children causes protein-energy malnutrition, seen as Marasmus (emaciation from an overall carbohydrate-and-protein-deficient diet) or Kwashiorkor (pot-belly, oedema, stunted growth). Common everyday complaints include indigestion, constipation and vomiting (a reverse-peristalsis reflex controlled by the medulla oblongata). More serious conditions include jaundice (failure to clear bile pigments, from a damaged liver or viral hepatitis), liver cirrhosis (chronic scarring of liver tissue), gall stones (crystallised cholesterol obstructing the bile ducts), appendicitis (inflammation of the vermiform appendix, risking periton …