Dr. Henry Chung

Dr. Chung thinks Helen may have Gastroparesis and is requesting a Gastric Emptying Study procedure to be done on Feb. 18th at Royal Columbian Hospital...

Gastroparesis is a severe neuromuscular disorder of the stomach that results in a partially or completely paralyzed stomach. Individuals suffer with a spectrum of symptoms collectively known as dyspepsia. These symptoms range from nausea, vomiting, belching, reflux (stomach acid washing into the mouth), early satiety (a feeling of fullness after a few bites of food), abdominal pain or bloating, a change in bowel habits, and weight loss. People with gastroparesis may experience a substantial loss in quality of life to the point of being housebound for months at a time.

Gastroparesis is also known as delayed gastric emptying. Delayed gastric emptying can be a component of numerous other gastrointestinal disorders such as:

non-ulcer dyspepsia,
gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD),
functional dyspepsia,
cyclic vomiting syndrome,
functional abdominal pain,
irritable bowel syndrome (IBS);
it is also found in a subset of individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Break down the words; it helps to understand the meaning. “Gastro” means “stomach” and “paresis” means “weakness”. Gastroparesis, then, refers to a weakened stomach, which in this case, allows food and secretions to pool in the stomach. The term “delayed gastric emptying” is often used interchangeably with gastroparesis.

Breaking apart the meaning of the word “dysmotilites”, we get the prefix “dys”, meaning "abnormal", and "motility", a biological term meaning “contractions”. Its use in gastroentreology refers to abnormal contractions in the gut. A dysmotility may affect an isolated problem in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract (as in gastroparesis) or it may encompass several regions of the GI tract, each region having its own diagnostic term.

Sometimes people start out with one isolated dysmotility (such as gastroparesis); then over time the motility problem can affect a region farther downstream—the duodenum— and even farther along the small intestine. One very severe dysmotility is chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction, which can afflict both children and adults.

Dysmotilities of the colon cause diseases such as: Hirschsprung's disease, colonic inertia, slow-transit constipation, and functional outlet obstruction.

source: The Gastroparesis & Dysmotilities Association