advertisement
(Getty Images)
Whether your symptoms are occasional or unrelenting, mild or severe, there are a number of steps you can take to recognize and minimize heartburn.
Health Community
Gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, gallstones, and ulcers can be painful, stressful, and embarrassing. But you're not alone-these diseases affect millions of people. Meet some of them here.
Crohn's disease appears to be caused by an abnormal inflammatory response: Researchers hypothesize that the immune system overreacts in response to an allergen, a bacteria or virus, a genetic reaction, or a defective signal from the body's own cells, and causes inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract.
The vast majority of people with gallstones don't have symptoms or need medical attention. Enough Americans do, however, that the cost of treating them hits about $5 billion yearly. Some 800,000 operations are performed annually to treat gallstones.
The central cause of reflux is a weak barrier between the esophagus and stomach. The muscle ring at the junction of the stomach and the esophagus—the lower esophageal sphincter—relaxes or fails to close properly under pressure from stomach contents, which leak backwards.
Hemochromatosis is an inherited metabolic disorder that causes the body to absorb too much iron. It is the most common hereditary disorder in the United States. The overload of iron accumulates and can cause life-threatening conditions, including cirrhosis, liver cancer, diabetes, and heart failure.
A person with irritable bowel syndrome—also called nervous or spastic colon—has a colon that appears to be normal, but it just doesn't work right. Symptoms include, abdominal pain, gassiness, a feeling of being bloated, and constipation or diarrhea.
Most peptic ulcers will heal if the body's production of stomach acid can be adequately suppressed, or, when the cause is an H. pylori infection, if the infection is treated and wiped out. Otherwise, peptic ulcers will regularly recur.
The cause of ulcerative colitis remains unknown, but in theory, the immune system in the mucosa of the large intestine may be triggered by the many antigens from food products and billions of bacteria that live there. Any of these might cause the release of proteins that brings inflammatory cells to the colon lining.
advertisement
HealthiNation video
When shopping for a health plan, is an HMO or a PPO better for you and your family?"
HealthiNation video
Learn why chemotherapy often plays a large part in cancer treatment.
If you learn how to alleviate the symptoms, having herpes does not mean the end of a satisfying sex life.
Heart surgeon Charles Fraser with Rachel Parrish, 9, at Texas Children's Hospital. He operated on Rachel in 1997, 1998, and 2001 to treat her for hypoplastic left heart syndrome. (Kevin Horan/Aurora for USN&WR)
Out of 5,189 hospitals only 3 percent are ranked in one or more specialty. Johns Hopkins tops the Honor Roll.
New England is home to many of the best health plans in the country. U.S. News and NCQA review 684 plans.
American Hospital Association Symptom Finder
Discover possible causes of your symptoms.
Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our Terms and Conditions of Use and Privacy Policy.