Digestive system diseases

With the continuous development of modern industrialization and the rapid development of science and technology, people's living standards have improved to varying degrees, but the pressure in life has also increased a lot. Nowadays, many people do not care about their health due to the pressure of work and life. They do not have a fixed time for eating and resting. Sometimes their physical condition is getting worse and worse, especially digestive system diseases such as stomach and duodenum are also on the rise.

What are diseases of the digestive system? Diseases of the digestive system are caused by lesions in the digestive system. There are many types of diseases of the digestive system, and the treatments for different diseases are also different. Next, let’s take a look at what digestive system diseases are.

1. Peptic ulcer disease: mainly refers to chronic ulcers occurring in the stomach and duodenum, commonly known as ulcer disease, which is a common and frequently occurring disease. There are many factors that lead to the formation of ulcers, among which the stimulation of the mucosa by acidic gastric juice is the basic factor in the formation of ulcers. In recent years, people have increasingly recognized the importance of Helicobacter pylori infection in causing disease.

2. Gastroenteritis

1. Bacterial gastroenteritis. Bacterial gastroenteritis is a gastrointestinal dysfunction caused by pathogenic bacteria entering the human body through food. The degree of gastrointestinal damage varies depending on the number of bacteria and the person's physical condition. The incubation period also varies depending on the cause of the disease, ranging from a few hours to a few days. 

1. Main symptoms: abdominal pain, abdominal distension, diarrhea, mucus and blood in stool, nausea, vomiting, chills and fever.

2. Note: Generally speaking, bacterial gastroenteritis will not be cured by just resting at home without medical treatment. So unless the symptoms are particularly mild, please go to the hospital for treatment. 

3. Common types of bacteria:

(1) Pathogenic Escherichia coli: The disease is mostly caused by eating contaminated meat or drinking contaminated well water, and it often occurs in summer.

(2) Salmonella: mainly diarrhea, accompanied by fever, vomiting and abdominal pain. Salmonella mostly attaches to eggs and edible meat, but there is no problem as long as the food is fully heated before eating. Pets are also a source of infection.

(3) Vibrio cholerae: Cholera is an acute intestinal infectious disease caused by Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139. It has the characteristics of rapid onset, rapid spread, wide range of impact, and can cause a pandemic.

(4) Staphylococcus: Staphylococcus attached to purulent wounds contaminates food. After eating these contaminated foods, Staphylococcus multiplies in the body and produces toxins, causing symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, severe upper abdominal pain, diarrhea, chills, and fever. Heating does not completely eliminate this toxin, so be careful not to contaminate your food with the bacteria.

(5) Shigella dysenteriae: causes bacillary dysentery, also known as bacillary dysentery, which is an acute intestinal infectious disease. The main intestinal lesion is purulent inflammation of the colon, with clinical manifestations such as systemic poisoning symptoms, abdominal pain, diarrhea, tenesmus, and bloody stools. Bacillary dysentery occurs all over the world, with a higher incidence in rural areas than in cities. It can occur throughout the year, but is more common in summer and autumn. The incidence rate is higher in children, followed by young and middle-aged people.

2. Viral gastroenteritis, also known as viral diarrhea, is a group of acute intestinal infectious diseases caused by a variety of viruses. The clinical characteristics are acute onset, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, watery or loose stools, and may also be accompanied by fever and general discomfort. The course of the disease is generally short and the mortality rate is low. The clinical manifestations of gastroenteritis caused by various viruses are basically similar. There are many types of viruses associated with acute gastroenteritis, among which the more important and most studied are rotavirus and norwalk virus.

(1) Rotavirus gastroenteritis is the most common type of viral gastroenteritis. It has a distinct seasonal pattern, with the peak incidence occurring in the cold autumn and winter (December to February). "Autumn diarrhea" caused by rotavirus accounts for nearly half of diarrhea in infants and young children.

(2) Norwalk virus infection can occur in all seasons, but is more common in winter and spring. It mainly occurs in densely populated areas and can often cause outbreaks of enteritis in adults and older children. The main symptoms after the onset of the disease are diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, and low fever, and vomiting is particularly obvious in children.

3. Acute viral hepatitis

Hepatitis A and E are enteric infectious diseases, and the main route of infection is fecal-oral transmission. The disease is more common in children and adolescents. After a person is infected with the hepatitis A virus, there is usually an incubation period of about one month, during which there may be no symptoms. Then there will be fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting and yellow skin that cannot be explained by other reasons. Some patients have abdominal distension or diarrhea, tea-colored urine, liver enlargement and tenderness in the liver area, obvious abnormalities in liver function tests, and positive or significantly elevated titers of serum hepatitis A antibodies. The epidemic characteristics of hepatitis E are similar to those of hepatitis A. It has obvious seasonality and is more common in the rainy season or after floods. It does not become chronic and has a good prognosis.

The above are the main diseases of the digestive system. Of course, there are many other diseases of the digestive system, which we will not list here one by one. The digestive system is an important system of ours. If we do not pay attention to protecting it, it will cause many diseases. Therefore, we should focus on rest in normal times and have regular meal times. We should not forget to eat because we are busy with work, which can easily cause diseases of the digestive system.