Gastrointestinal disease

A disorder that affects the digestive tract or associated organs involved in digestion, including the esophagus, stomach, intestines, liver, pancreas, and gallbladder.

Connect

Digestive system: The organs and processes that ingest food, digest it, absorb nutrients, and eliminate waste. Gastrointestinal disorders affect parts of this larger system.
Inflammation: A tissue response to injury or infection involving immune activity and changes in blood flow. Persistent inflammation damages tissue in several digestive disorders.
Gastroenterology: The medical specialty concerned with the digestive system and its disorders. It coordinates diagnosis and treatment across the digestive tract and associated organs.
Gastroesophageal reflux disease: A chronic condition in which stomach contents repeatedly flow back into the esophagus and cause troublesome symptoms or complications. It illustrates disease centered on the boundary between the esophagus and stomach.
Gastrointestinal tract: The continuous passage from mouth to anus through which food travels and is digested. Its organs are the primary sites of gastrointestinal disease.
Intestinal permeability: The ease with which substances pass through the intestinal lining. Altered permeability can accompany intestinal inflammation and barrier injury.
Endoscopy: Examination of internal body structures using a camera-equipped flexible instrument. Endoscopy directly visualizes digestive tissues and can obtain biopsies.
Peptic ulcer disease: A condition involving open sores in the stomach or the first part of the small intestine. Its ulcers demonstrate how infection or medications can injure digestive lining.
Gut microbiota: The community of microorganisms living in the digestive tract. Microbial communities can influence digestive health and disease.
Malabsorption: Impaired absorption of nutrients through the small intestine. It is a consequence of diseases that damage or bypass absorptive surfaces.