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For my steam project I chose to research Gastroparesis. The
Drawing I did is the stomach, and what it looks like with a digestive condition, gastroparesis. The stomach is full, and it should not be that full. This is due to Gastroparesis.
Gastroparesis is a condition where food digestion is delayed, and this is due to the stomach emptying food out slower than usual. Gastroparesis affects the stomach in numerous ways due to food staying in the stomach much longer than normal.
The stomach is a temporary storage tank, and starts to chemically break down food. (Unit 13 lecture notes, slide 18) The stomach’s function is to store food, transport chyme into the small intestine, and to secrete HCL so that it can denature protein. However with Gastroparesis the stomach is still able to chemically break down food, and is still able to store food, however it can not transport chyme into the small intestine as efficiently. The stomach remains full longer, and this takes time away from HCL secretion due to HCL being secreted while the stomach is empty.
How the stomach normally removes chyme. The food must be broken down into 2 mm in size. After food is broken down “upper stomach relaxation and antro pyloro duodenal coordination lead to the emptying of food from the stomach”. (Camilleri, sanders, 2023) Using muscle contraction to empty out the stomach.
Gastroparesis occurs when the lower stomach muscle contraction fails. (Camilleri,Sanders, 2023)
If you feel full after you just started eating or feeling full hours after eating are symptoms of Gastroparesis. As well as nausea, vomiting (leads to dehydration), bloating in the abdomen, absurd amounts of burping, heartburn and poor appetite. If you have these symptoms you should seek medical help, but you should definitely seek medical help if the symptoms lead to difficulty breathing, fever, feeling weak/ fainting, constant vomiting/ blood in vomit, stomach pain doesn’t go away, abdomen is cramping, and glucose levels are too high/low.
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/gastroparesis/definition-facts
Postoperative Gastroparesis occurs after surgery that affects the upper digestive tract. (Tan et al…, 2024) Gastric peroral endoscopic myotomy (G-POEM), G-POEM is a treatment for Postoperative Gastroparesis. G-POEM is a non invasive approach to healing postoperative Gastroparesis, and to create long term efficiency. Postoperative Gastroparesis has the same symptoms however there is some weight loss happening as well, and thus leading to a poor quality of life.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8678360/
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/gastroparesis/definition-facts
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00464-024-11184-0
Lydia Felix’s project explains what gastroparesis is and how it affects the stomach. Her drawing of the stomach that is overfilled with chyme shows what the stomach of someone with gastroparesis might look like. Gastroparaesis is a digestive condition that causes chyme to build up within the stomach. This build up is caused by the muscles in the lower stomach failing to contract, which keeps the chyme from moving to the small intestine.
Normally, food is broken down chemically within the stomach, and proteins are denatured by the stomach secreting HCL, the broken down food is turned into a paste called chyme that is moved into the small intestine by the upper stomach relaxing and the lower stomach contracting and pushing the chyme into the small intestine. With gastroparesis, HCL secretion is also reduced since this is secreted when the stomach is empty.
Symptoms of gastroparesis include, feeling full often, nausea, vomiting, bloating, burping frequently, and heartburn.