Tag Archives: System – Digestive

What Is Increased Intestinal Permeability? Increased intestinal permeability is characterized by dysfunctional intestinal permeability (leakiness) allowing for the penetration of harmful entities from the gut into the bloodstream such as undigested proteins and microbes. The popular name is “leaky gut.” ...

What Is Chronic Constipation? Chronic constipation is an intestinal motility disorder characterized by abnormal stool formation, consistency, and evacuation. Motility disorder means the normal rhythmic movement of intestinal muscles, called peristalsis, that moves food matter through the gut is hampered ...

What Is Crohn’s Disease? Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease characterized by patchy inflamed areas involving the full thickness of the intestinal wall that can occur anywhere in the intestinal tract, in addition to, mucosal disease. In Crohn’s disease ...

What Is Ulcerative Colitis? Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory disorder of the colon characterized by continuous inflammation of the mucosa and submucosa usually with small ulcers, extending from the rectum and typically involving the distal colon, rectum, and anus and ...

What Is Lymphocytic Colitis? Lymphocytic colitis is a microscopic inflammation of the large intestinal mucosa with infiltration of lymphocytes (IELs)  that is characterized by non-bloody secretory diarrhea. Secretory diarrhea describes bowel movements that consist of a large volume of liquid ...

What Is Collagenous Colitis? Collagenous colitis is a disease of the large intestine (colon) that is characterized by microscopic inflammation of the surface mucosal lining and an abnormally thickened collagen band of tissue that develops wthin the lining of the colon. ...

What Is Helicobacter Pylori (H. Pylori) Infection? Helicobacter pylori infection is a potentially deadly stomach disease characterized by chronic superficial inflammation and ulcerations in 100% of infected patients. This infection disrupts normal defense and repair of the stomach lining and ...

What Is Lymphocytic Gastritis? Lymphocytic gastritis is an inflammatory stomach disorder that is characterized by superficial inflammation of the stomach lining (mucosa) that mainly involves the gastric antrum in children. Lymphocytic gastritis is defined by the recognition of more than 25 ...

What Is A Gastric Ulcer? Gastric ulcer is a painful stomach disorder characterized by an open sore involving the mucosa lining and deeper muscle layer of the stomach. Gastric ulcer is associated with lymphocytic gastritis which is inflammation of the mucosal ...

What Is Impaired Gall Bladder Motility? Impaired gall bladder motility means the gall bladder is slow to empty or is dysfunctional. The functional disorder of the gallbladder is caused initially either by metabolic abnormalities or by an alteration in its muscular ability to ...

What Is Thiamin? Thiamin, also called vitamin B1, is an essential vitamin that is required to convert foodstuffs into energy and for the health and proper functioning of the nervous, muscular and cardiovascular systems. In the bloodstream, 90% of active ...

What Is Irritable Bowel Syndrome? Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a motility disorder without anatomic cause involving the entire gastrointestinal tract that is characterized by these four features: 1) Abdominal pain usually relieved by defecation or passing of gas; 2) ...

What Is Gluten Sensitive Enteropathy? Gluten sensitive enteropathy is active celiac disease characterized by inflammation of the small intestinal mucosa that results from an inherited immunologic intolerance to ingested gluten. Q: What does the inflammation do to the mucosa in the small ...

What Is Obnoxious Gas? Obnoxious gas, or flatus, is gas that is not only offensive when passed but also lingers in the air longer than ordinary gas does. Gas is a natural digestive product within the colon that is composed mainly of ...

What Is Vitamin B12? Vitamin B12, also called cobalamin, is a highly complex vitamin that functions in two coenzyme forms: adenosylcobalamin and methylcobalamin. These forms of the vitamin play important roles in the physical and chemical processes by which amino ...