Disorders of Digestive System

Common Digestive Disorders

Inflammation of the intestinal tract is the most common digestive ailment. It can be caused by bacterial or viral infection, or by intestinal parasites such as tapeworm, roundworm, threadworm, hookworm and pinworm.

• Jaundice -- the liver is affected, and the skin and eyes turn yellow because of a build-up of bile pigments.
• Vomiting -- the forceful, reflex ejection of the stomach's contents through the mouth. This reflex is controlled by a vomit centre in the medulla, and is usually preceded by a feeling of nausea.
• Diarrhoea -- an abnormal increase in how often bowel movements occur, together with increased liquidity of the faeces; it reduces the body's absorption of food.
• Constipation -- faeces are retained within the colon because bowel movements become irregular.
• Indigestion -- food is not properly digested, producing a feeling of fullness. It can be caused by inadequate enzyme secretion, anxiety, food poisoning, over-eating, or eating spicy food.

Protein-Energy Malnutrition (PEM)

Protein-Energy Malnutrition is a dietary deficiency of both protein and total food calories together. It is widespread across many under-developed parts of South and South-East Asia, South America, and West and Central Africa, and can affect large sections of a population during drought, famine or political turmoil -- as it did in Bangladesh during its liberation war, and in Ethiopia during the severe drought of the mid-1980s. In infants and children, PEM produces two distinct conditions: Marasmus and Kwashiorkor.

Marasmus results from a simultaneous deficiency of both protein and calories. It occurs in infants under one year old when their mother's milk is withdrawn too early in favour of foods poor in both protein and calories -- something that often happens when the mother becomes pregnant or gives birth again while the older infant is still young. Protein deficiency impairs growth and the replacement of body-tissue proteins, so the body becomes extremely emaciated, with thin limbs and dry, thin, wrinkled skin. Growth rate and body weight decline considerably, and even brain growth and mental development are impaired. …