Digestive System
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The following precautions may help to control diarrhoea:-
(i) Frequent intake of ORS or filtered/boiled water with sugar and salt is a must so as to avoid dehydration. Drink herbal teas, (ii) Take light and easily digestible well-cooked home-made food like vegetable soups, green lentils (moong dal), boiled rice, fresh fruit and vegetable juices, butter milk (lassi), (iii) Stay away from heavy fried and spicy foods, milk and food containing gluten like wheat, (iv) Maintain good personal hygiene and sanitation, and (v) Have plenty of rest and avoid physical and mental strains.
25. Other common problems of the digestive tract are :-
(i) Gastric Ulcers — During digestion, the stomach produces hydrochloric acid and enzyme pepsin (a digestive protein), which are powerful digestive juices. Normally mucus secretions protect the stomach from harmful effects of these juices. But when a wrong or spicy food is eaten or tobacco is used, or an overdoes of aspirin etc is taken, then there is an overproduction of digestive juices, which breakdown stomach tissues resulting in an open sore, a gastric ulcer. If the sore damages the blood vessels in the stomach wall, bleeding ulcer can develop.
(ii) Stomachache — Stomachache is actually the pain in the intestines. Consuming contaminated food and/or water can cause painful cramps in the intestines.
(iii) Growling and Heartburn — Growling sound at mealtimes comes from the churning action of the stomach. If food is not eaten for a long time, the churning action becomes so intense that the acidic contents released from the stomach wall push upwards to damage the lining of the foodpipe and produces a burning sensation, called heartburn, behind the breastbone and into the neck and throat. It has nothing to do with the heart! Normally a circular valve-like muscle, called sphincter, separates the stomach and the foodpipe, keeping the acidic content where it belongs. But if this valve becomes weak due to age, obesity or other illness, it loses its ability to stay closed. Sometimes, due to heartburn, the mouth gets filled with watery saliva. Heartburn may occur after drinking a hot or cold fluid. Or it may occur after eating, when a person is tense and tired, due to habitual overeating, overuse of spices, frequent use of painkillers, prolonged tension, excessive intake of tea, coffee or alcohol. If the heartburn is bad enough, it can develop into Barrett’s oesophagus. This is a condition in which the body, in an effort to protect the oesophagus from too much stomach acid, replaces the cells lining the oesophagus with new cells like those lining the intestines. However, this change increases the risk of cancer of the oesophagus by as much as forty times.
