Introduction
Abnormal diseases are a broad spectrum of diseases affecting the organs inside the abdomen. These organs include the stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, small and large intestine, etc.
Stomach lies in the upper abdomen towards the left side and is J shaped. Most of the abdominal diseases affecting stomach are due to infectious causes.
Step 1
One of the most common diseases, affecting abdomen is gastritis. It is a condition in which there is hyper secretion of gastric juice from the stomach. This can be as a result of a wide variety of reason like stress, infection or due to high intake of spicy food items and alcohol.
Step 2
Diarrhea
Most of us are familiar with this term. This is an infectious disease in which, there is increased number of unwanted bacteria in gastrointestinal tract, as a result of which the body tries to flush out the bacteria in the form of increased secretion of water. This increases the water content of stool, leading to loose stools.
Step 3
Crohn's disease
Is one of the rarest abnormal diseases and is as a result of inflammation in the stomach.
Step 4
Stomach cancer
Stomach cancer occurs due to transformation of normal cells of the stomach to malignant cells due to various etiological factors.
Step 5
When you visit the doctor the doctor performs various tests to diagnose and confirm the abdominal disease. The routinely performed tests for abdominal diseases are.
Tips
1. Endoscope
This is one of the most commonly used procedures for diagnosing abdominal diseases. The patient is given intravenous sedation and an endoscope, which is a small, flexible camera attached to the end of a thin tube is inserted via the mouth. The endoscope can be used to visualize the lining of the esophagus and the stomach. This procedure is outpatient procedure and will take not more than one hour. This procedure also allows the doctor to get a biopsy sample and to treat bleeding by using laser or other injectable drugs.
Other endoscopic procedures for diagnosing abdominal diseases
Esophagogastroduodenoscopy or EGT is a test used for diagnosing cause for gastritis ulcers and stomach cancerColposcopy is useful for diagnosing infectious colitis or cancer of the colon.
Sources and Citations
X-ray
One of the most commonly used radiological studies to study abdominal diseases is barium swallow. In this method a radiopaque dye is given to the patient. After few minutes the patient is visualized using x-rays. This can tell the doctor if there is any obstruction in the passage along the gastrointestinal tract.
CT scan.
A CT scan gives a better idea of the structure of the abdominal and helps to diagnose abdominal diseases, more accurately. The only disadvantage of CT scan is that it is slightly more expensive than routine x-ray.
Other routinely done tests are 24-hour, PH study and MRI scan.
There are many laboratory test, performed to give the doctor some idea about the type of abdominal diseasesthe patient is suffering from. Some of these testsare liver enzymes, complete blood count, and test for electrolyte.
