560- Solving the Biopsychosocial Puzzle in Functional Dyspepsia
Functional dyspepsia is the most prevalent functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID) ofthe upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The disorder can significantly impact the quality of life of those affected. In this article, IFFGD Research Award Winner Dr. Lukas Van Oudenhove, MD, PhD, describes how the biopsychosocial model, which connects biological, psychological, and social factors in disease, can be used to describe symptom expression in functional dyspepsia.
807-Dyspepsia in Children
Dyspepsia refers to pain or discomfort centered in the upper abdomen. The symptom characteristics of dyspepsia in children are pain and discomfort in the upper middle region of the abdomen. Individuals often describe the pain as occurring around eating, after eating, or at night. The discomfort can be a sensation of fullness after meals, an early feeling of having had enough to eat (satiety), bloating, belching, nausea, retching, vomiting, regurgitation, anorexia, or food refusal. Diagnosis and treatment discussed. Revised and updated 2009.
510-Gastrointestinal Motility Disorders of the Esophagus and Stomach
This article reviews disorders caused by abnormal motility in the gastrointestinal tract (including GERD, dysphagia, functional chest pain, gastroparesis, and dyspepsia) and their characteristic symptoms, such as food sticking, pain, heartburn, nausea, and vomiting.
Also available offline as a glossy color brochure (3.5″ x 8.5″). Contact IFFGD for details.
518 – Esophageal Motility Disorders
Difficulty swallowing liquids or solids, heartburn, regurgitation, and atypical (or non-cardiac) chest pain may be symptoms of an esophageal motility disorder. These disorders are characterized by specific criteria based upon the pressures generated within the esophagus when swallowing occurs.
520 – Antacids
Antacids seem to help many of those with bloating or nonulcer dyspepsia, as well as heartburn. A discussion of various antacids.
514 – Dyspepsia – Upper Abdominal or Stomach Pain (Indigestion)
One of the most common symptoms is pain or discomfort in the upper abdomen. It is known that one in four people in the community have upper abdominal distress at times. This can be caused by a large number of medical conditions, including peptic ulcer disease, gallstones, esophageal inflammation (esophagitis), and very rarely cancer, to name the major conditions. However, there remain a large number of people who after being investigated have none of these medical conditions. Indeed, there is no obvious cause for their symptoms. Patients who have this type of dyspepsia are referred to as suffering from functional dyspepsia.
545 – Treating Functional Dyspepsia: What Are Your Options?
Dyspepsia is a common disorder that affects up to 30% of the general population. Symptoms of dyspepsia include upper abdominal pain or discomfort and frequently include symptoms of burning, pressure, or fullness often, but not necessarily, related to meals. Other common symptoms include early feeling of fullness (satiety), nausea, belching, and bloating. While dyspeptic symptoms may develop due to diseases such as peptic
ulcer or gastritis, the vast majority of patients with dyspeptic symptoms are ultimately diagnosed as having functional dyspepsia.
515 – Functional Dyspepsia and IBS: Incidence and Characteristics
Symptom overlap is common among several functional GI disorders. For instance, care must be taken not to confuse functional dyspepsia with other common disorders that may cause upper gastrointestinal distress, like heartburn, IBS, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), functional abdominal bloating, and functional biliary disorders. This article compares two common functional GI disorders – functional dyspepsia and IBS.
226 – Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Heartburn, Dyspepsia: What’s the Difference?
The anatomical diseases Crohn’s, peptic ulcer, and esophagitis have functional counterparts with some similar symptoms; irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), dyspepsia, and functional heartburn, but these cannot be identified by x-ray or gastroscopy. Thus, for the diagnosis of these functional disorders doctors must rely entirely upon the patient’s description of his or her symptoms.
262-Understanding Bloating and Distension
Bloating can be described as the feeling that there is an inflated balloon in the abdomen. It is a commonly reported symptom and is sometimes associated with distension, or the visible increase in the width of the area between your hips and chest (abdominal girth). Both bloating and distension cause discomfort, and sometimes pain, and have a negative impact on the quality of life for some individuals.
524 – Confusing or Ambiguous Upper Gut Symptoms
By choosing the appropriate test, a doctor can make a precise diagnosis of a structural upper gut disorder, such as esophagitis or peptic ulcer, by recognizing the diseased area through testing. The patient’s history provides the information that permits the doctor to choose the right test. In the case of the disorders of gastrointestinal function, such as dyspepsia or non-cardiac chest pain, there is no structural abnormality and no diagnostic test. Hence diagnosis of these disorders depends even more upon how the patient describes his or her symptoms. But many people use words to describe symptoms that are vague or misliading to a doctor. Examples are explained – such as indigestion, gas, nausea, chest pain, or vomiting.
116 – Doctor – Patient Communication
Functional GI disorders present a special challenge to the doctor-patient interaction for several reasons. First, functional GI disorders are characterized, in most cases, by vague symptoms of variable intensity. Many times, these symptoms involve the most intimate anatomic areas of the body. The sensitivity of these issues can complicate the task for the patient who needs to express them in terms that the physician can interpret to formulate a diagnosis. Secondly, the physician is hampered by the absence of obvious structural lesions that often lessens the likelihood of devising a specific medical intervention that is successful. In some cases, the physician’s own anxiety can be increased by the lack of a symptom complex that leads to well-understood disease entity, such as parasites or lactose intolerance. This deficiency, in turn, often leads both physician and patient to over-investigate the symptoms. So what are the ingredients that comprise successful doctor-patient communication about the functional GI disorders?
