Malabsorption syndrome: choose food with caution

This complex of symptoms is special, because if you compile a list of its causes, symptoms and consequences, there will be at least two hundred points in the "list". However, all the same, we try to cope with the task easier, selecting only the most important thing. The main thing in the syndrome is that certain nutrients can not be absorbed by the body.

Serious diseases are associated with malabsorption syndrome , for example, celiac disease (problems with assimilation of wheat protein). Most of the cases of total malabsorption, caused by genetics, is the manifestation of celiac disease.

In a healthy organism, most of the eaten is absorbed and becomes a material for constructing one's own cells, or the energy of the chemical bonds of this eaten is transformed into energy expended on physiological processes. However, the malabsorption syndrome does not absorb certain nutrients. The reasons can be very different. The syndrome of malabsorption is not connected rigidly with one or even ten diseases, it presents surprises even to modern doctors who have already seen a lot.

If the syndrome is safely acquired during a lifetime, then, most likely, it is due to the removal of a part of the stomach. It is clear that in the case of oncology, the patient does not have a choice, but here such an operation for the purpose of losing weight is an extremely unreasonable action. Absence of a part of the stomach does not allow to grind the food and treat it with hydrochloric acid as it should. Because of this, enzymes can not penetrate to substrates (cleavable substances) - and against a background of normal nutrition the body starts to starve. Of course, a person grows thin, of course, the body reduces the need for calories to a minimum, but this existence is not a normal life. A man has to eat a lot, so that at least something is learned.

Malabsorption syndrome is of three general types.

• Selective malabsorption: one substance is not absorbed (insufficiency of lactase, a person can not drink unboiled milk).
• Partial malabsorption: a group of substances is not absorbed (abetalipoproteinemia, fats, cholesterol and fat-soluble vitamins are not absorbed ).
• Total malabsorption: almost nothing is absorbed (celiac disease causes damage to the intestinal wall, which seriously disturbs absorption).

The syndrome of chronic malabsorption can be associated with four groups of causes:

1. Dysfunctions of mucous membranes (intolerance to cow's milk)
2. Chronic pancreatitis or liver function disorders
3. Structural disorders (Crohn's disease)
4. Extraintestinal disorders (diabetes mellitus or impaired eating behavior)

The syndrome of malabsorption in children can lead to a slow development, so if the baby has low hemoglobin, the child grows poorly against a good appetite, chronic diarrhea, fat in the stool - you should immediately ask the therapist for a gastroenterologist (child).

The consequences for both adults and children are very serious: osteoporosis, urolithiasis, anemia, heart attacks, cholelithiasis and various forms of dystrophy. In women, the matter can reach infertility, in children - up to rickets. And if you do not notice celiac disease in a child, you can get even intestinal cancer. Therefore, the baby needs to be especially attentive, to observe how he reacts to different foods. In the case of celiac disease, it will be sufficient simply to exclude the "wrong" protein - and after a while the intestinal mucosa will return to normal.

For many people malabsorption syndrome is associated with the use of unsuitable products. It is worth removing them from the food plan - and the condition is very quickly normalized. Yes, it is difficult sometimes to give up some types of food - but health is more expensive. Of course, if the child has celiac disease, then there will be no choice - the wheat protein should be banished from the table forever.