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Tummy Troubles: Causes and Cures
| Article
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15864 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
1 / 1989 |
2,284 Words |
| Author
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Dr. Eyelyn B. Kelly
Evelyn B. Kelly is vice president of the Florida chapter of
the American Medical Writers' Association and consultant on
pediatric, psychological, and gerontological concerns. |
Three A.M. It seems as if someone has plopped a burning coal on your chest. Your misery index climbs with each toss in the bed and tick of the clock. Are the New Year's Eve hors d'oeuvres and cocktails sparring in your chest? Has the rough-and-tumble holiday schedule caused an ulcer--or worse?
Welcome to the club! According to the National Digestive Disease Advisory Board, almost half the population--some 100 million of us--suffer from some form of digestive problems. And is this really unexpected? The digestive, or gastrointestinal (GI), system is a complex of organs that converts the food we eat into nutrients. The system that turns a hamburger into you gets a lot of use--and abuse. Digestive diseases represent the leading causes of hospitalization and major surgery in this country. Also, consider the economic effects of the 200,000 days lost from work by people whose tummy troubles make them too sick to function.
Anatomy Lesson
The star players in the GI tract--the esophagus, stomach, and intestines--will never appear in romantic novels or movies. Talking about them in polite company is practically unthinkable. But a film on their anatomy reveals some interesting facts. Lights out, please. Roll the GI tract movie.
Notice that once chewed, the swallowed food falls through a long, narrow tube called the esophagus. This muscular pipeline can squeeze food to the stomach in about seven seconds. To reach the stomach, the food goes through an area that acts like a drawstring purse--a valve called the lower esophageal sphincter muscle, or LES. This valve acts as a one-way door and is especially constructed to keep the food in the stomach from backing up into the esophagus. The stomach churns the food in an acid bath. It holds up to 1½ quarts of food for three to four hours.
Next we view the small intestine, a tube about twenty feet long. Here digestion is continued and absorption of nutrients takes place. Pay attention to an area called the duodenum--the first ten to twelve inches of the small intestine. The last frame features the large intestine, or colon. Here, such discards as celery strings and other fibers are stored for elimination.
Lights up. Let's hear it for our stars. Now let's turn to four common culprits that may spell brewing trouble for the GI
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