Advance pathophysiology. Gastrointestinal Tract: Disorders of Motility

Gastrointestinal Tract: Disorders of Motility
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Gastrointestinal Tract: Disorders of Motility
 MedScape (n.d.) defines gastrointestinal motility (GI) as the movement of food through the throat and down the digestive system. Acid production and regulation is essential component in the digestive process. Excessive production of acid is called ulceration and it can have adverse effects on the GI process. GI is responsible for digestion process that occurs and whenever there is a dysfunction in the process, gastrointestinal motility disorders are likely to develop. The three types of disorders caused by alteration of the GI are gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD), gastritis, and peptic ulcer disease (PUD). This study explores the pathophysiology of these motility disorders and the possible intervention that can help reduce their prevalence. The paper also seeks to explain how age factor affects the stimulation of gastric acid and establish why motility disorders are prevalent in aging populations.
Gastric acid is produced in the stomach and the stomach has developed a defense mechanism that defends it against this acid. Even though the stomach is designed so that it cannot digest itself, there are cases when the gastrointestinal motility disorders cause inflammation that affect the movement of food down the tract. The physiology behind gastric acid stimulation is based on responses received in lumen when there is a change in pH. According to MedScape (n.d.), hormonal, paracrine, and neurocrine inputs trigger messages that lead to the secretion og gastric acid in the stomach. The messengers responsible for production of gastrin are histamine and acetylcholine. According to Phan, Benhammou, and Pisegna (2015) gastrin hormone is responsible for regulation of the production of gastric acid in the stomach. This implies that a slight change that affects gastrin hormone will affect the normal functioning of GI and trigger the motility disorders associated with it.
Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) occurs when gastric acid from the stomach flows back into the esophagus. This causes an irritation to the lining of the esophagus. This seldom happens when the sphincter relaxes abnormally or weakens. The weakening can be caused by age or other factors such as alcohol consumption (Marks, n.d.). A constant...