Professor. Min, Yangwon
Division of Gastroenterology
Digestive Diseases, Functional Dyspepsia, irritable Bowel Syndrome, Constipation, Esophageal Disorders, Gastric Cancer, Colorectal Cancer. Esophageal Cancer
Dyspepsia: How To Get Rid Of That Bloated Feeling
These days, Mr. M, an office worker, does not look forward to lunch time as much as he used to. He has been suffering from loss of appetite since he started having difficulties with digestion a month ago. He has a strange feeling near his solar plexus, and feels bloated in his abdomen even though he eats little. In addition, he has heartburn whilst fasting and suffers from sudden and excessive belching. He was worried it might be a serious illness and had an endoscopy.
But nothing was wrong.
If endoscopy or ultrasound does not show any signs, but you continue to have pain near your solar plexus associated with feeling bloated after eating or become full earlier than expected, it could be functional dyspepsia.
What Causes Dyspepsia?
Functional dyspepsia seems to arise when the process of passing food to the small intestine is delayed after being digested by the stomach, or when the stomach is not relaxed enough when we eat. In addition, another cause may be due to gastric distention or being hypersensitive to gastric acid, which is secreted to help digestion. However, its pathogenesis is still unclear. Furthermore, irregular eating habits and lifestyle, stress, excessive smoking, and drinking too much coffee or alcohol may cause or exacerbate the disease.
Stress Causes Dyspepsia!
Whether it's stress due to excessive work, your boss or co-workers, or a severely distressing life event, there seems to be an inseparable relationship between modern people and stress. Stress can be one of the major causes of dyspepsia.
Excessive stress can break the balance of the autonomic nervous system, which impedes the movement of the stomach and lowers the threshold of discomfort or pain. As a result, the symptoms of dyspepsia, such as satiety and the sense of distension, appear when gastric function deteriorates, and food is thereby not digested in the stomach properly and move down to the duodenum.
Another Cause of Dyspepsia
Although most dyspepsia cases are not related to organic causes, in some cases a peptic ulcer or rarely a stomach cancer can be found among people who suffer from dyspepsia.
In addition, cholelithiasis can be mistaken for dyspepsia because it also produces pain in the solar plexus area and the upper right quadrant of the abdomen. Other diseases associated with dyspepsia are chronic pancreatitis, which can arise among people who drink excessively, and pancreatic cancer which can occasionally be found among people in their fifties and older. To diagnose more accurately, various medical tests such as ultrasound and CT scans may be required.
Treatment of Dyspepsia: Lifestyle Changes and Stress Management
If there is an organic cause, the symptoms of dyspepsia will disappear when you treat the underlying disease. In the cases of functional dyspepsia, which does not have any organic cause, medication such as gastric acid secretion inhibitors or gastrointestinal stimulants may help. However, the path physiology of functional dyspepsia is usually complex, and the effectiveness of such treatments is uncertain. Therefore, it is important to find out which foods, what emotional events, and which environmental factors aggravate the symptoms and avoid them. In general, it is recommended that spicy and hot foods should be avoided, to eat slowly, and to lead a well-regulated life.
Also, avoiding stress and exercising properly can be helpful in improving and preventing symptoms. People like Mr. M who suffers from a bloating feeling, belching, and passing wind frequently should not drink too much carbonated drinks, or eat too much fermented foods, legumes, tofu, fruits, or vegetables. Eating food in a hurry could lead to bloating, which may cause frequent belching, so you need to eat slowly. Eating a lot of fried food should be avoided because food that is too fatty can decrease your digestive capability. However, if you do not experience any problems when eating certain foods, you do not have to avoid them.
Because mental instability plays an important role in the development of the symptoms of dyspepsia, it is important to take a break psychologically. It is not desirable to eat food or drink alcohol just before going to bed in order to relieve stress. If you cannot avoid stress, you need to find a healthy way to handle it. Maintaining positive attitudes, doing moderate exercise, and spending some time in peace are desirable ways of managing stress.
If there is no improvement in your symptoms of functional dyspepsia despite lifestyle changes and stress management, you need to see a doctor for medication. More importantly, if there are danger signs such as weight loss or dark feces, you should remember that you must receive medical treatment after excluding the possibilities of other diseases.