Functional constipation (FC) is a common and often recurrent functional bowel disorder that seriously affects the quality of life affected individuals incurs significant economic burden on both individual society. There accumulating evidence intestinal dysbiosis contributes to rebalancing gut microbiota may be novel therapeutic modality for FC. Electroacupuncture (EA) has been shown restore nor...

Although functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID) are common, their pathophysiology remains incompletely understood. It is generally accepted that dysfunction of the bidirectional pathways between the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system (the 'brain-gut axis') at any level can cause FGID symptoms. In this review article, we focus on the role of the central nervous system in...

The irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is the best known of the functional gastrointestinal tract disorders. Many IBS patients have at least one co-morbid somatic complaint and many meet diagnostic criteria for other functional disorders. Patients with IBS and another functional disorder, in comparison with patients with IBS only, have more severe IBS symptoms, a higher rate of psychopathology, gre...

Background Patients with symptoms suggestive of gastroparesis exhibit several symptoms, such as epigastric pain, postprandial fullness, bloating and regurgitation. It is uncertain if such symptoms reflect underlying oesophageal motor disorder. Aims To examine whether patients with epigastric pain and postprandial distress syndrome suggestive of functional dyspepsia and/or gastroparesis also h...

Aerophagia is a functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by repetitive air swallowing, abdominal distension, belching and flatulence. Pathologic aerophagia is a condition caused by the swallowing of excessive volumes of air with associated various gastrointestinal symptoms, such as burping, abdominal cramps, flatulence and a reduced appetite. It is a clinical entity that can simulate ...

Bipolar patients with a rapid cycling clinical course constitute an interesting sub-group for studies focused on the pathophysiology of the disorder, since several switches can be studied by the investigators in a short period of time. At present, functional neuroimaging techniques, as SPECT and PET, may be used for the neurobiological study of affective disorders. Few longitudinal functional n...

INTRODUCTION A signifi cant fraction of the average gastroenterology practice is devoted to the management of functional gastrointestinal disorders, of which the most frequent are irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional dyspepsia. Th ese patients are highly heterogenous, and the lack of a known etiology and wide variability in treatment response makes them particularly challenging to mana...

the spectrum of gluten related disorder might be much broader than currently believed. it is unknown why non-coeliac gluten sensitivity affects individuals at different ages. it is quite possible the triggering factors like infection might play an essential role in manifestation of this disorder. similar to secondary lactose intolerance, gluten intolerance might be a common occurrence behind pe...