What is dyspepsia?
Dyspepsia, or difficult digestion, is pain in the upper abdomen, especially after eating. It is a very common ailment that can be alleviated by the administration of medications to reduce stomach acidity and stomach protectors. Sometimes it is related to stress, alcohol consumption, smoking, abuse of fatty foods or eating too fast. Therefore, the discomfort when digesting can be reduced if healthy habits are acquired, both in diet and in daily routines. In any case, it is a benign problem, without major consequences, although it is chronic and may appear and disappear intermittently over the years.
Prognosis of the disease
The prognosis of dyspepsia tends to be positive. It is a very frequent disease and most of the time it is caused by benign organic processes that tend to a positive prognosis, without risk, although in many cases it evolves into a chronic disease. Rarely it is caused by serious diseases with a negative prognosis.
Burning or warmth may be felt in the area between the navel and the lower part of the sternum.
Symptoms of dyspepsia
The most common symptom among patients with dyspepsia is discomfort in the upper abdomen, which usually occurs during or after meals. This pain can be described as warmth or burning in the area between the navel and the lower part of the sternum, as well as an uncomfortable bloating sensation at the beginning or end of meals. These discomforts have nothing to do with heartburn, as heartburn symptoms usually start in the chest and can spread to the neck or throat.
Medical tests for dyspepsia
When diagnosing dyspepsia, specialists resort to two tests in order to perform a medical examination with guarantees:
- Abdominal ultrasound
- Gastrointestinal endoscopy: An examination performed to obtain images of the esophagus, stomach and duodenum to detect and identify if there are lesions of any kind.
What are the causes of dyspepsia?
There is a great general lack of knowledge about the causes of dyspepsia. To begin with, in some cases the symptoms occur after a large meal or after taking medications that cause some kind of damage to the gastric mucosa, namely aspirin or anti-inflammatory drugs.
Some psychological problems such as stress, anxiety or depression can act as triggers of the disease.
There are cases in which patients may suffer from a stomach ulcer in the duodenum area, mostly caused by a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori. The most common causes of dyspepsia are:
- Excessive alcohol consumption
- Ingestion of spicy or greasy foods.
- Ingestion of food in large quantities and in a short period of time.
- Smoking
- Foods with high fiber content
- Excessive caffeine consumption
Can it be prevented?
There are some habits that will help prevent this type of disease such as:
- Relaxing and taking a break after eating. Specialists recommend avoiding stress and exercise immediately after eating.
- It is important to chew carefully and not to swallow food immediately after putting it in the mouth.
On the other hand, if the patient has previously suffered episodes of dyspepsia, it is advisable to avoid taking some medications such as acetylsalicylic acid and some anti-inflammatory drugs on an empty stomach.
Treatments for dyspepsia
There are several types of treatments that the specialist will indicate to the patient depending on the type of affectation of the disease.
- Diet: in many cases patients present symptoms related to food intake. Therefore, the physician advises to eat low-fat and low-calorie meals, and also in small quantities.
- Antibiotics: the specialist will prescribe antibiotics in order to eliminate the bacteria known as Helicobacter pylori in cases where it causes the disease.
Which specialist treats it?
The specialist in charge of diagnosing and treating dyspepsia problems are the Digestive Tract doctors.