Health Awareness blog

Dyspepsia is a common medical complain, you and I might have experience this without knowing what dyspepsia means. It is associated with chronic or recurring pain in upper region of the abdomens. The word “dyspepsia” comes from the Greek terms: “Dys” means difficult while “pepse” means digestion.

Functional dyspepsia is defined when the symptom is present more than 3 month without any anatomical abnormality found in the digestive tract. This symptom might mimic other gastrointestinal diseases such as peptic ulcer and diabetes – only after all of these have been ruled out that we diagnose the condition as functional dyspepsia. The causes of functional dyspepsia is not known, however it has similar symptom with irritable bowel disease. 60% of patients with dyspeptic symptoms have functional dyspepsia. Another 15% is caused by peptic ulcer disease (either due to helicobacter pylori or ingestion of pain killer – NSAIDs)

Dyspepsia normally accompanied by following symptoms:

• Bloating
• Heart burns
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Mild abdominal pain
• Abdominal discomfort
• Frequent belching
• Overall feeling of fullness after a meal

Dyspepsia is greatly influenced by a person’s lifestyle. Diet and smoking are claimed to play a major role in contributing to this symptom. Habit of eating spicy food and high fiber diet may also cause abdominal discomfort. Surprisingly, stress also is believed to have association to this problem.

Examination that will be run by your physician:

• Routine physical examination – may indicate pain in the middle of the abdomen
• Rectal examination – to look for any bleeding. Should it be present, further measures will be taken to rule out underlying gastrointestinal disease.
• Endoscopy will be suggested by your doctor if the symptom persist after 8 weeks of medication or if the symptom keep recurring

Treatment:

Depends on the symptom and cause;

• Antitussive (e.g.: maxolon)
• Antispasmodic
• Antibiotics – if there is underlying bacterial infection i.e.: Helicobacter pylori
• Acid blocking drug – if ulcer is the cause of dyspepsia
• Lifestyle changes – quit smoking is a good start! Try to avoid from being stress. Enjoy your food instead of try to swallow the whole plate in 30 seconds. Avoid NSAIDs (pain killer), if you don’t have any choice, take them with a full stomach. It might be wise if you also take the table with antacid agent.

Reference:

1. Harrison’s Manual of Medicine. 16^th edition. 2005.
2. Health Today magazine, March 2008.

Tags: digestive tract, dyspepsia, endoscopy, heart burns, helicobacter pylori, irritable bowel syndrome

Technorati Tags: digestive tract, dyspepsia, endoscopy, heart burns, helicobacter pylori, irritable bowel syndrome

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