Stomach pain can be ruthless especially if it’s a chronic condition.It basically paralyzes the functionality of each of your body organs, leaving you with a sharp painful shiver that goes from your stomach right down the bottom of your leg. Naturally, when you’re suffering from stomach aches persistently, your performance at work starts to deteriorate.
With that being said, we decided to sit down with Dr. Ashraf Salah Abouelhawa, a Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist with 25 years of experience and a master’s degree in Tropical Medicine (Kasr El Aini ) Faculty of Medicine/ Cairo University, to enlighten us about common gastrointestinal problems and the precautions needed to evade them.
Q: What Are the Most Common Cases That You Usually Encounter with Patients? Are They Common for a Reason or Coincidentally?
Cases can be divided on a 3/2/1 base, gastrointestinal (digestive), hepatic (liver) and miscellaneous. Usually there is a seasonal pattern for complaints. Summer is always known for gastrointestinal infections, whilst in winter people are more prone to suffer from gastric problems and constipation. Exams time is also a considerable stimulus for irritable bowel; recurrent abdominal pain and diarrhea or constipation, frequently related to, depression, stress, anxiety, or a prior intestinal infection.
Q: What Are Daily Habits, That Eventually Affect The Digestive System Without People Knowing?
The worst daily habit that people engage in and end up damaging their digestive system with, is food intake before sleep. Of course, the daily stress factors and all that comes with the current modern lifestyle increases the likelihood of having colon or digestive problems. The haste of life that compels people to consume excessive caffeine, smoke especially on an empty stomach and obviously live on fast food, will most definitely affect your digestive system in time.
Q: What are the main reasons behind a dysfunctional digestive system?
A dysfunctional digestive system is defined as a malfunction in the digestive tract which starts from the mouth, passing through the esophagus, stomach, first part of the small intestine which is called (duodenum), rest of the small bowel, ending with the large intestine. Any malfunction in the digestive tract, will surely appear in the form of bloating, distention, pain, altering bowel motion, etc.
There are several reasons that contribute to mal-digestion, like H.Pylori infection; a bacterium that resides in the stomach causing several gastric problems and eventually forming stomach ulcers.
Unbalanced nutritional diet with dependence on fast food, lack of adequate fiber intake, and water consumption, are all provocations and stimulants for a disturbance in the normality of the stomach’s bowel. Of course, these are not the only causes of mal-digestion, sometimes problems arise from genetic allergies towards certain types of food such as gluten, fish, milk, etc.
Q: What is the Relation Between the Amount of Liquid Intake and The Decline of Gastrointestinal Problems?
There is a direct relation between adequate fluid intake and regular bowel motion, which in its turn decreases the incidence of distension, flatulence and dyspepsia. Sometimes the only medicine a person needs to treat the digestive problem is an extra glass of water.
Q: What are the relation between fast food and gastrointestinal problems?
The mere name of “fast food “already brings up several problems. Starting from the idea of eating it “fast “, which deprives the person from chewing efficiently, losing a big part of the digestion process. It is fast cooked by deep frying or over grilling, which again leads us to carcinogenic substances. This opens the door for high levels of cholesterol which lead to cardiovascular problems, high levels of sugar; increasing the chances of developing diabetes and being overweight.
Q: Do you think people are more prone to have problems with their digestion in summer more than in winter? And why?
As we previously said, there is a definitive distinction between summer diseases and winter diseases, regarding gastrointestinal illness. With the summer’s high temperature and humidity, food tends to spoil and develop more bacteria at a faster pace; especially with the lack of proper refrigeration and storage.
Unfortunately, some bad personal hygiene might lead to the propagation of infection from food makers to food consumers. So, gastroenteritis is usually a common problem in summer, whilst in winter it is more likely that people suffer from constipation, dyspepsia and reflux symptoms due to lesser fluid consumption.
Q: What are the precautions that you recommend for a healthy digestive system?
Moderation is a key factor, as previously noted, the excessive consumption of certain types of food can lead to serious medical illness. I always advise my patients to use all their senses before eating. Vision, smell, taste and touch if applicable. If your food looks unpleasant, think twice before you eat it. If it smells, feels bad or tastes unusual, you should know that this is a red flag.
Also regular exercising, which could be simply walking, can improve your digestion a lot better than you think. A final and a very important remark, an extra cup of water might be all you need.
