The gastrointestinal diseases or digestive include various disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, which is the one that allows us to feed ourselves properly and be well nourished. For example: irritable bowel syndrome, intestinal polyps, celiac disease.
It is believed that the stress associated with the dizzying pace of large cities and the composition of the food we consume, as well as the life habits, greatly influence the development of this type of disease.
Examples of gastrointestinal diseases
| irritable bowel syndrome | intestinal polyps |
| Colorectal cancer | celiac disease |
| lactose intolerance | Crohn’s disease |
| gallstones | ulcerative colitis |
| hemorrhoids | diverticulosis |
| esophagus cancer | gastroesophageal reflux |
| hepatitis B | peptic ulcer |
| cirrhosis | hiatal hernia |
| liver failure | cholecystitis |
| pancreatitis | short bowel syndrome |
Symptoms of gastrointestinal diseases
In gastrointestinal diseases, symptoms such as bleeding when passing stool, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, heartburn, nausea, vomiting, difficulty swallowing, including sudden weight gain or loss.
Many gastrointestinal diseases are mild and they are overcome in a few days, often with a simple diet; others are serious and require immediate medical attention.
It is important to be alert to the symptoms mentioned, since many of the gastrointestinal diseases markedly improve their forecast if they are diagnosed in their earliest stages.
It should also be borne in mind that there are important gastrointestinal diseases congenital. Perhaps the two best known cases in this regard are celiac disease and lactose intolerance:
- Celiac Disease. It is linked to certain alterations in a set of genes located on chromosome 6, which make the body identify gluten proteins, which we digest when eating regular flours, as harmful agents, which makes the immune system react with production of antibodies and inflammation of the small intestine. The curious and at the same time complex thing is that only 2% of people who have this genetic alteration are celiac, so there are undoubtedly other processes and genes involved in the development of this disease.
- Lactose intolerance. It is known that the body needs the enzyme lactase to digest lactose; intolerance arises when the small intestine does not produce enough of this enzyme, and there are indications that this could be caused by mutations in some regions of the LCT gene.