What is gastroenterology? If you’ve ever heard the term, you might have heard of someone dealing with a serious gut problem. But the term is much broader than you might think. Essentially, gastroenterology is the discipline or field of knowledge that focuses on treating any disease that appears and develops within the human digestive system, which can be pretty varied.
Digestion Is Vital
Digestion is crucial for every living thing because it ensures the absorption of nutrients from food and the process of expelling waste from the body. Food is used for growth energy and also for cell repair, and any issue with the digestive system means a disruption of overall health.
Gastroenterology has a few sub-disciplines, one of which studies the complications of the stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and even the rectum and how they affect the overall digestive process. The physiology of the digestive organs is a significant focus within this sub-discipline. Every sub-discipline is important, but this one gets the most attention because it deals with life-threatening degenerative diseases.
Today, the average person has likely experienced a gastrointestinal issue at least a few times in their life. The upward trend in gastrointestinal problems year after year is influenced by the “increasingly unhealthy lifestyle” of most people. Modern individuals are more exposed to synthetic chemicals in their food, and this has serious long-term effects.
Common gastrointestinal complaints are usually dyspepsia, acute diarrhea, irritable bowel, digestive discomfort, reflux, and of course, cancers of the digestive organs (bowel cancer is the most common among digestive organ cancers).
Some gastrointestinal diseases can be treated and prevented, like what’s known as GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease), a condition where the contents of the stomach flow back up into the esophagus, causing a sort of burning sensation and nausea in the stomach. The sensation can be quite disruptive and is similar to the symptoms of a pre-heart attack.
Bowel Cancer in New Zealand
In New Zealand, there are hundreds to thousands of new cases of bowel cancer each year, and they are caused by various factors, such as obesity, genetic factors, and even smoking. Smoking, which is often overlooked as a contributing factor to bowel cancer, actually contributes significantly to a person’s chances of getting it. The examination and treatment of gastrointestinal problems must be done professionally to avoid wild and misleading assumptions. And of course, this treatment can only be performed by a gastroenterologist, or “gastrologist” for short. If you’re an Auckland resident, a service like Auckland Gastroenterology is what you need if you find yourself with a serious condition in your digestive system.
The most definitive test to see if there’s a serious issue with your gastrointestinal system is an endoscopy. This is an internal inspection of the digestive organs using a long tube equipped with a tiny camera. The long tube is inserted through the anus, and once inside the digestive tract, the camera can take pictures/record the condition of the digestive organs, looking for any signs of a serious problem.
Technological advancements today have made endoscopy even more sophisticated, capable of detecting more diseases before they become more dangerous. Endoscopy not only inspects but can also take tissue samples for later analysis. This process is very useful for preventing the severity of cancers, reflux complications, and premalignant lesions.
In short, gastroenterology provides a clearer perspective on how we should manage the health of our digestive system and how we can prevent or minimize the severity of, and perhaps even cure, something bad if it happens.
