Gastrointestinal Diseases - Research Paper Example

Further, the paper will explain the different ways of treating the gastrointestinal diseases, and end with a summative conclusion. The gastrointestinal diseases to be discussed include Constipation, Inflammatory Bowel disease, and Colon Cancer. Constipation. Contraction Constipation is an ailment of the digestive tract where the patient excretes hard feces. Constipation is a common disease that affects almost everyone in at least one time of their life. Several factors contribute to the problem including lack of fibers in an individual diet.

The other factors are severe dehydration, excessive stress and sickness (www.wisegeek.com). It is imperative to note that other grave gastrointestinal diseases can cause constipation; thus, constipation can be a symptom to a wide range of gastrointestinal diseases. Effects to the body Constipation causes the movement of large intestines to stop or slow down. The movement of the large intestines is beneficial because it pushes food down the digestive tract into the rectum. This results to retention of feces in the body because the hardened fecal matter becomes extremely painful to remove from the digestive tract (www.prokerala.com).

This condition makes an individual spend long minutes in the rest room trying to get rid of fecal matter. Constipation can cause bruises to the colon and damage to the anal sphincter because the indigested matter comes out as hard as a stone. A painful aftermath may follow defecation because of bruising in the colon lining (Johnston 121). Treatment Treatment of constipation is less involving and less expensive. A patient should take some measures that reduce susceptibility to constipation (McMillan 12).

Individuals can relieve constipation by taking plenty of water and other helpful fluids like soup. Secondly, the individual should consume food with plenty of fibers to ease the problem. Patients should exercise regularly to strengthen the stomach muscles and the general welfare of the body (McMillan 13). If the condition does not ease within a few days, a patient can visit a doctor who will prescribe the most appropriate treatment. A doctor can recommend a laxative to a patient who is suffering from constipation for more than four days.

However, laxatives have negative effects to the patient, and they may end up doing more harm than good. Inflammatory Bowel Disease Contraction There are various, dissimilar inflammatory bowel diseases that cause considerable inflammation of the digestive truck, tummy lining and colon (Johnston 123). However, the most widespread kinds of inflammatory bowel disease are Crohn’s disease and ulcerative Colitis. Patients contract these diseases after experiencing a considerable corrosion of the stomach lining and the lining of the digestive tract (Johnston 123).

These corrosions result from excessive excretion of gastric juice that cleans up the protective mucus, and thus, exposing the delicate tissue of the stomach to the digestive juices. Research shows that, the problem can also result from bacterial infection of the digestive tract lining. Effects to the body Ulcerative Colitis patients develop inflammations and ulcers in their stomach, which leads to rectal bleeding, sore bowel movements, fatigue, dehydration and diarrhea (Podollsky 7). Severe pain may result after eating acidic foods or food items that are difficult to digest like kales.