Digestive Health Archives

What to Know About Hiatal Hernias

Sep 10, 2020 · Kate Brophy · Digestive Health

Aging puts you at risk for more health issues, particularly if you're overweight or obese. One such issue that has become more common as the U.S. obesity rate increases is hiatal hernia pain. Estimates suggest that up to half of adults age 60 and older have this type of hernia. … Read More

Impacted Bowel: Symptoms, Causes, Treatment

Sep 10, 2020 · Matthew Solan · Digestive Health

An impacted bowel is one of the more unpleasant digestive issues you can experience. Bowel obstruction symptoms occur when a mass of dry, hard stool will not pass out of the colon or rectum. Bowel impaction can become a serious issue if not treated, and in extreme cases may even … Read More

Should You Use an Enema for Constipation?

Sep 9, 2020 · Cindy Foley · Digestive Health

Being constipated stinks—your bowel movements are dry, almost painful to pass, with little relief. Worse yet, you can manage to push something through only a couple of days a week. You feel bloated, fatigued, and just plain uncomfortable. It’s all you can think about. And, after a week or so, … Read More

Woman suffering from diverticulitis symptoms

Diverticulitis: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment

Aug 11, 2020 · Chris Iliades, MD · Digestive Health

To understand diverticulitis, you need to understand diverticulosis, so let’s start there. Diverticulosis is a very common bowel condition. It usually occurs in the last part of your colon, called your sigmoid colon. A pouch of the inner lining of your colon pushes inward through a weak area of the … Read More

Do Specific Foods Cause Kidney Stones?

Jul 22, 2020 · Chris Iliades, MD · Digestive Health

Kidney stones can form when you have too much dissolved minerals and salts in your urine. [1] They can be tiny grains of stone that pass through your urine painlessly, but larger stones can get stuck, block the flow of urine, and be extremely painful. [2] About 50 percent of … Read More

What to Know About Gastritis: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment & Diet

Jul 7, 2020 · Chris Iliades, MD · Digestive Health

Gastritis is not one disease. It is a group of conditions that cause swelling and irritation, called inflammation, of your stomach lining. Normally your stomach lining has a mucous barrier that protects your stomach from stomach acids. Stomach acids are digestive juices that are great for breaking down the food … Read More

What Is SIBO? All About Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth

Jul 7, 2020 · Chris Iliades, MD · Digestive Health

SIBO is the acronym for a disease called small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. [1-3] It is hard to know how common SIBO is. It causes digestive symptoms that are very common like belly, pain, bloating, and bowel changes. Many cases of SIBO may be missed because the diagnosis requires special testing. … Read More

Colon Cleansing: Not Necessary—and Potentially Dangerous

May 20, 2020 · Aliza Lifshitz, MD · Digestive Health

Colon cleansing is in fashion—and it’s a big business. You’ve likely heard people talking about having a colon cleanse as if they were going to a spa for a massage. But be very careful! There are no scientific studies that support any benefits from this practice—except for the bank accounts … Read More

Gastritis Definition: What Is Gastritis, and Why Is the Term So Confusing?

May 6, 2020 · UHN Staff · Digestive Health

Gastritis is a general term for inflammation of the stomach lining. There are so many different types of gastritis, however, that it is difficult to come up with a single gastritis definition. Sometimes, gastritis is defined based on its cause, such as “H. pylori gastritis” (gastritis caused by infection with … Read More

Do You Have Heartburn? Try a GERD Elimination Diet

May 5, 2020 · UHN Staff · Digestive Health

If you suffer from chronic heartburn, certain foods may be to blame. But the foods that trigger heartburn in one person can be different than the foods that cause heartburn symptoms in another person. So how do you figure out which foods to avoid with heartburn? You may want to try a short elimination … Read More

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