Assessing The Digestive Systems
The digestive system is critically important to human health and
well-being. It is also the mechanism of obtaining all nutrients. As
such, it is imperative to assess its functioning in every nutrition
work-up. Any abnormality in the digestive system has the potential
for causing mild to severe malnutrition. According to
Allen Spiegel, Director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and
Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), "Digestive diseases rank second among all causes
of disability due to illness in the United States." The range
of digestive problems that may be encountered is varied and
includes gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), irritable bowel syndrome,
celiac disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, gastrointestinal cancer,
ulcers, and gallstones.
Critical to an
optimally functioning GI tract is a healthy mucosal barrier capable of
regulating the particles crossing it. This, in turn, is dependent on the
qualtiy of food consumed and the microflora living in the gut. Imbalance in
these areas can result in varying degrees of intestinal hyperpermeabilty or
leaky gut. Once large molecules begin "leaking" from the gut
into the bloodstream, it can result in an immune response to these antigens.
A reading in your assignments this week, explains this mechanism in
greater detail (Gut. Oct 2006; 55(10): 1512–1520 (Links to an external
site.)Links to an external site.).
Proper assessment,
diagnosis, and therapy for digestive conditions can considerably improve
quality of life, as well as nutrient status and health. Later in the
course, we will investigate assessments of various nutrients in the blood and
other body fluids. For this discussion, we will be looking primarily at
how normal digestion and absorption can be impeded in an unhealthy GI tract and
how we can best assess these functions.
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