A recent study examined the effects the growth hormone agonist, ghrelin, had on Guinea Pig antral and pyloric smooth muscle tissue. Ghrelin is partially responsible for stimulating hunger along with increasing motility & digestive juices. Continue reading “Guinea Pigs, Rats & Ghrelin Helping With Gastroparesis” »
A recent small scale study shows that people who have long term Functional Dyspepsia are more likely to have sleep disturbances or anxiety.
Functional Dyspepsia is essentially chronic indigestion. It usually involves bloating, belching, nausea & heartburn. Often Functional Dyspepsia is not an often diagnosis. Many doctors seem to prefer to link these symptoms to acid reflux. Functional Dyspepsia may have links to stomach motility issues & may actually be a milder form of Gastroparesis. This hasn’t been confirmed because often motility tests are not done on patients complaining of these symptoms. The reason is is called “Functional Dyspepsia” is because it is usually a diagnosis given to people after normal diagnostics show nothing wrong. Continue reading “Funky Sleep Linked to Functional Dyspepsia” »
A recent study from the Archives of Surgery is shedding some light on how well stomach band weight loss surgeries are at shedding the pounds. The study looked at the medical histories of 151 patients who had received some form of stomach banding surgery at least 12 years ago. Over half(54.3%, 82 patients) needed some form of follow-up after the initial surgery. Patients experienced minor complications 22% of the time & major complications 39% of the time. Only a little over half(51.4%) the patients still had their stomach band in place, of those the mean weight-loss seen by them was approximately 48%. Overall, 60% of patients stated that they were happy with the results of the surgery, regardless of the fact that not all of them saw major results. Given the fact that many had complications & only half the patients ended up keeping their device, the study suggests that stomach banding surgery has poor long term outcomes.
It’s definitely food for thought for those who may be thinking of surgical measures to help them reduce their weight. While the FDA has approved stomach band surgeries for people with body-mass indexes as low as 30, surgery should still be seen as a last resort after diet & exercise options have completely failed.
For the many people dealing with acid reflux, lying down can literally be a painful experience. When a person is lying down on their back they are putting more strain on their lower esophageal sphincter(LES valve). The LES valve is what keeps the contents of your stomach from flowing into the esophagus. One of the reasons for acid reflux disease is a weakened or faulty LES valve, meaning lying down flat on your back is just asking for trouble. Even those who don’t have acid reflux, but have other digestive issues such as Gastroparesis, Functional Dyspepsia or even Irritable Bowel Syndrome/Inflammatory Bowel Disease may have issues when lying down. I personally deal with bouts of indigestion w/ acid reflux combo along with my Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which is why I’ve been looking for a solution. Continue reading “Review – Trademark Bed Risers – Elevating Your Bed For Digestive Health” »
For most people a trip or two through the buffet is all they can muster before it’s time to go for a nap. However, for others, chowing down more than anyone else is a thrill in and of itself. Competitive eating has been “expanding” in popularity over the last decade thanks in part to groups like the International Federation of Competitive Eating who dolled out $400,000 in prize money in 2009 alone & has partnered with big names like ESPN & Alka-Seltzer. The televised Nathan’s Hotdog Eating contests & shows like “Man vs Food”(which I personally like) have brought the concept away from it’s early sideshow/county fair roots and more into the mainstream. Continue reading “The Dangers Of Competitive Eating” »
The Living With Gastroparesis blog just posted some interesting survey data about Gastroparesis which does include information about probiotic usage w/ Gastroparesis. Of 46 people who responded as taking probiotics, 25 reported mild to significant improvements of their Gastroparesis symptoms, which is actually impressive as I was not thinking they would have that large of an effect. It is important to note that the majority of positives results, were on the mild side, but some people did respond well to probiotics. Continue reading “What Is The Best Probiotic Supplement For Gastroparesis?” »