Symptoms of the digestive tract

Abdominal pain is also a very unspecific symptom with multiple causes. One point of reference in making a diagnosis is the exact localization of the pain. Pain in the upper abdomen, for example, is more likely to indicate an illness of the stomach, while pain in the lower right abdomen is more likely to indicate an intestinal disorder, e.g. appendicitis.

In order to make an exact diagnosis, however, a detailed examination by a doctor is necessary. Often, imaging procedures such as ultrasound or gastrointestinal endoscopy are also used. Vomiting is a symptom from which probably everyone has suffered at some time or another.

It can have a number of causes and is not always of a medical nature. Vomiting occurs when the vomiting center in the extended medulla in the brain is sufficiently irritated. This can happen, for example, through the influence of substances that the body recognizes as harmful.

For example in the context of alcohol poisoning, after consumption of spoiled food or similar. Disorders of the vestibular system can also trigger severe vomiting.Bloody vomiting, on the other hand, can be an indication of an acute injury or more serious illness in the upper digestive tract, for example a stomach ulcer or a mucous membrane injury to the esophagus. Diarrhea is also a widespread symptom that is not always associated with a serious illness.

For example, light diarrhoea can occur after eating certain foods, e.g. extremely fatty dishes. Severe diarrhoea with high stool frequency and very fluid (“rice water-like”) consistency can be an indication of a gastrointestinal infection with a virus or bacterium. If diarrhoea occurs regularly or over a long period of time, the cause should be clarified in order to exclude chronic diseases of the intestine.

Detailed information can also be found under diarrhoea. Heartburn is caused by an irritation of the mucous membrane of the esophagus. This is typically caused by acid stomach contents flowing back into the esophagus (“reflux“).

There are patients in whom this reflux occurs permanently due to disturbances in the area of the transition between the esophagus and the stomach, and is then called reflux disease. But also by certain diet or excessive alcohol consumption, heartburn can occur temporarily. If it exists however durably, it can come to the inflammation of the oesophagus mucous membrane and to extensive damage of these.