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Gas, Belching, Bloating, and Flatulence: Pathogenesis, Evaluation, and Management

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Geriatric Gastroenterology

Abstract

Over the past 10 years, there has been a development of criteria that defines functional gastrointestinal disorders and the significance of their symptoms based on motility disturbance, visceral hypersensitivity, altered mucosal and immune function, altered gut microbiota, and altered central nervous system processing. The gastrointestinal manifestations related to these functional disorders are belching, bloating, and food intolerance. The topic of food intolerance is an extensive one and difficult to study properly. The major components of food intolerance that contribute to clinical symptoms are lactose, fructose, sorbitol, and high FODMAPs (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols). In the older adult, prior to considering their symptoms as functional, it is crucial to evaluate the patient for alarm symptoms as these functional symptoms may be due to organic disease.

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Correspondence to Debra R. Goldstein .

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Pitchumoni, C.S., Goldstein, D.R., Vuittonet, C.L. (2020). Gas, Belching, Bloating, and Flatulence: Pathogenesis, Evaluation, and Management. In: Pitchumoni, C.S., Dharmarajan, T. (eds) Geriatric Gastroenterology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90761-1_44-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90761-1_44-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90761-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-90761-1

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