constipation

My seven-month-old son is on semisolid foods along with breast milk. Since last month he’s been suffering from constipation. At times, he doesn’t pass stool for five days at a stretch. When he was exclusively on breast milk ? until he was six months old ? he had a smooth bowel habit. What’s his problem now? Please suggest a remedy.

This is a common problem in infants during weaning. It’s witnessed when children are fed with food containing less fibre. The constipation sometimes gets complicated with cracks (called fissures) on the wall of the stool-passage. The cracks cause pain during defecation and the child develops an aversion to food and doesn’t like to pass stool. That’s how a severe form of constipation sets in. You should provide your son with a fibrous diet. Feed him more fruits, vegetables, wheat and so on. Apart from that, there should be a sufficient amount of fluid in his diet. You should also try to teach him to follow proper bowel habits. If these ways don’t work, do get in touch with a doctor to find out if the constipation is being caused by some other problem.

abdominal pain

For the last three years, my father (54) has been suffering from occasional bouts of upper abdominal pain. In the past six months, the pain occurred twice and it became quite severe. However, and responded to pain-relieving medicines. Endoscopy, ECG and ultrasound investigations revealed no anomaly. What’s his problem?

It seems your father has been suffering from this pain either due to some stone in the gall bladder or in the bile channel. It may also be due to some recurrent acute inflammation of the pancreas. Lack of blood supply to the gut sometimes also causes this sort of an ailment. I think you should consult a gastroenterologist for a clinical examination and a proper diagnosis. He is likely to suggest some investigations. To see whether it’s due to gallstone, bile-channel stone or inflammation of the pancreas, an MRI scan of those organs should be carried out. He also needs a liver function test and some other biochemical examinations. An angiography of the gut vessels should also be carried out to assess the blood supply to the gut.

irregular bowels

I (30) am a schoolteacher. Whenever I eat something, I develop an irresistible urge for passing stool. Thus my bowel habit has become irregular, creating lot of embarrassment in my social life. I tried several drugs, but there is no permanent relief. Please help.

You’re suffering from a condition called irritable bowel syndrome. It’s characterised by an altered bowel habit for a long duration ?often patients suffer an urge for defecation after meals. In this ailment gut motility is disturbed because of some abnormalities in the brain-gut axis (which controls the bowel movement by instructions coming from the brain in different situations). You should consult a doctor because reassurance is often useful in combating the condition. Medicines that can alter gut motility (like Mebeverine) can help fight this syndrome. Apart from that, stress-relieving drugs and bulk laxatives may also combat the ailment.

failed surgery

Five months ago my sister (39) underwent abdominal surgery following an intestinal obstruction. She recovered well, but now she has developed a peculiar tendency to vomit after a meal. As a result, she has lost a lot of weight. We are scared. Please suggest a remedy.

The cause of the intestinal obstruction should be explored first. It can be due to tuberculosis or a problem called Crohn’s Disease. It can also be due to the formation of ‘bands’ or ‘adhesion’ in the intestine. The outcome of the operation for intestinal obstruction depends on the site and extent of obstruction. However, as she has developed a tendency to vomit and has lost weight, it seems that the obstruction is still there. Some tests like small bowel enema, or CT scan of the abdomen should be carried out. The treatment should be done according to the primary cause of the problem.