Gastrointestinal Disorders Medical Answers

Bowel movement that results in something that looks like little balls of feces on a string is a common symptom of constipation and/or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). It's a symptom...

Constipation is defined as infrequent bowel movements, less than 3 a week, or experiencing difficulty when passing stools. With chronic constipation, this situation persists for several weeks or even longer. Having occasional constipation occurs commonly, but...

Many conditions can be responsible for pain the abdomen, and it is likely that the doctor will have to use a combination of clinical assessment, blood work, and possible diagnostic...

Colitis, a condition of acute or chronic inflammation of the colon, is an especially unpleasant disease. It can cause diarrhea, or constipation, or diarrhea that alternates with constipation. It can...

Hemorrhoids are swollen veins in the rectum. (There is another meaning of the word I will explain in a moment.) The veins can swell enough that they prolapse, plopping out the...

It isn't hypochondria to be concerned about a lump you can move under your right (or left, for that matter) rib cage. If you can see and feel it and...

There's a reason it's hard to find information on bowel-dwelling protozoan Trichomonas hominis. It really doesn't do very much other than swim around in your intestines. Once you have swallowed this microorganism...

When we say “abdominal muscles”, we usually think of the largest and the most superficial muscle called the rectus abdominis muscle (the one forming the 6-pack). Besides that one, there...

Medical procedures in the United States are breathtakingly expensive. A heart catheterization is typically $50,000 to $100,000. Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) might cost $25,000 to $50,000. Inguinal hernia repair...

Strange sensations and strange sounds from the abdomen are symptoms of many diseases. Known as borborygmus, some tummy rumbles are so loud that they can be heard from across a...