Symptoms
Dyspepsia is a digestive disorder that manifests itself in symptoms such as a feeling of fullness after eating, early satiety, upper abdominal pain, malaise, and burning in the stomach. Other digestive symptoms such as flatulence, nausea and vomiting may also occur.
Causes
Dyspepsia is divided into two categories. In so-called functional dyspepsia, no organic causes are apparent. The suspected causes of gastric upset include motility disorders of the stomach and intestines. In organic dyspepsia, on the other hand, underlying physical causes include gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), gastric or intestinal ulceration, or gastric or esophageal cancer.
Diagnosis
Diagnosis is made by medical treatment, including patient interview, physical examination, blood sampling, testing for Helicobacter pylori, and imaging (e.g., gastroscopy). Diagnosis must exclude numerous other conditions that cause similar symptoms.
Drug treatment
Prokinetics increase pressure in the upper esophageal sphincter, improve gastric motility, and speed gastric emptying:
- Domperidone (Motilium)
- Metoclopramide (Primpéran, Paspertin).
Antacids neutralize gastric acid and can also form a protective film on the mucosa. The effect usually occurs quickly, but also lasts only a short time. During treatment, the possible drug interactions must be taken into account. Antacids can inhibit the absorption of other drugs into the body and should therefore be administered at intervals. Active ingredients used include, for example:
- Magaldrate (Riopan)
- Hydrous aluminum oxide and magnesium hydroxide (Alucol).
- Calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate (Rennie).
- Hydrotalcite (Rennie Gel Hydrotalcite)
- Sucralfate (Ulcogant) forms a protective layer on the surface of the mucosa of the esophagus, stomach and intestines and is thus indirectly antacid.
Herbal medicines: numerous herbal medicines can be taken to treat dyspepsia. These include, for example, chamomile, bitter ribbon flower, artichoke, peppermint, caraway, bitter remedies and corresponding preparations (eg Iberogast). H2 antihistamines inhibit secretion of acid and pepsin in the stomach. The effects are based on binding to histamine H2 receptors:
- Ranitidine (Zantic, off label).
- Cimetidine is also out of trade
Proton pump inhibitors inhibit the secretion of gastric acid by binding to the proton pump in the occupant cells of the stomach. They are potent and should usually be taken half an hour before eating. PPIs are metabolized via CYP450 and corresponding drug interactions are possible. The most common possible adverse effects include headache, dizziness, indigestion, and skin rashes:
- Esomeprazole (Nexium, generic).
- Lansoprazole (Agopton, generic).
- Omeprazole (Antramumps, generics).
- Pantoprazole (Pantozol, generics).
- Rabeprazole (Pariet, generics)
Proton pump inhibitors are also used in combination with antibiotics to eradicate.
Non-drug treatment
- Healthy lifestyle: diet, physical activity.
- Replace or omit triggering drugs
