ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews some of the common upper gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, including gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), gastroparesis, celiac disease (CD), and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), with a look at the definition, etiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of each disorder. It focuses on the nutritional management aspects of these disorders. The chapter provides the symptoms of GERD that can be divided into typical esophageal, atypical, and extraesophageal. The pathophysiology of GERD is in simple terms exposure of the esophagus and other extraesophageal structures to gastric and duodenal contents, in the presence of conditions that promote this. The diagnosis of GERD involves evaluation of clinical symptoms, use of endoscopic findings, coupled with gastric and esophageal biopsies, and histopathologic findings. The chapter discusses some of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying CD. Classic signs/symptoms of CD: diarrhoea, flatulence, malabsorption, and its consequences.
