Chronic gastrointestinal diseases significantly impact individuals and their families, influencing personal relationships and overall well-being. Family medicine experts emphasize the importance of balancing concern for the person with the illness without letting it dominate the relationship, and recognizing the coping skills and strengths of those affected.
Many people have experienced gastrointestinal issues due to foods that contain barley, rye gluten etc. Because of new awareness of the negative effects these foods cause on the gastrointestinal tract the media is starting to cater their advertising towards people who may have sensitivities to these foods or who choose to abstain from these foods as a healthy preventative measure.
Individual
Digestive diseases affect the body in different ways. Sometimes, intestines get damaged and stop working properly. This can be for all sorts of reasons. Some conditions stop the body from digesting food properly. Others block the intestines so food can’t get through. Or sometimes the walls of the intestines get damaged and leak. Any of these conditions are bad news for the body. It means it doesn’t get the nutrients it needs, and it can’t get rid of the fecal matter. Blocked or leaky intestines are very painful, and can make people very sick.
Digestive diseases interfere with digestion and other organ functions in a number of ways throughout the digestive tract. They can cause dehydration, poor absorption of nutrients, general weakness, headaches, fever, blocked blood flow, and other issues. Digestive diseases can also affect people's behaviors, emotions, and general functioning.
Employment
Research indicates that time lost from work or other impacts to performance are significant factors for IBS patients. In fact, this impact is so great that IBS is the cause of as much employee work absences as the common cold. IBS patients tend to miss work more often due to illness or to make time for physician visits and other medical care. One survey of US households found that those who suffer with IBS missed three times more work than did patients without evidence of a gastrointestinal disorder.
Each year, approximately 20 million people are affected by gastrointestinal disorders in Canada. Digestive disorders result in over 18 million sick days and are responsible for 10% of all hospitalizations.
Health Care System
Gastrointestinal issues are not something that is seen with the eye and require a trained health care professional to diagnose and help treat. Gastroenterologists make up a part of the team of health care professionals who do procedures such as colonoscopies, which look at the inside of your colon to determine any gastrointestinal problems.
Gastrointestinal disease is the 3rd most common cause of death, and cancer of the gastrointestinal tract is the leading cause of cancer death. Including day case investigations, gastrointestinal disorders account for as many hospital admissions as respiratory illnesses, and both are second only to circulatory disorders. In the past few decades there have been increases in the incidence of most gastrointestinal diseases that have major implications for future healthcare needs.
Family
Pain is one of the dominant symptoms of IBS. Studies of patients with low-back pain suggest that the relationship between pain solicitousness on the part of a spouse may have beneficial effects in a happy marriage but adverse effects in an unhappy marriage.
Family and personal relationships can have an effect on illness and on how well a person will feel as he or she lives with a chronic digestive disorder. These interactions have been described by family medicine experts.
Putting the illness “in its place” – being concerned about the person with the condition without making the illness the primary focus of relationship life.
Recognizing the skills and strengths the person with digestive condition uses coping with their challenging disorder. For example, calling attention to his or her strategies and skills used in managing intestinal symptoms and distress.
Economy
To relieve symptoms consumers with gastrointestinal issues spend their dollars on different over the counter medicines such as Antacids, Calcium carbonate (Tums, Rolaids, Chooz) Proton Pump Inhibitors. Omeprazole (Prilosec) Lansoprazole (Prevacid) Histamine2 Blockers. Cimetidine (Tagamet) Promotility Agents. Metoclopramide (Reglan). They also may avoid spending money on certain foods that aggravate their symptoms such as sugar, dairy, spices as a part of a low fodmap (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols) diet. This results in less money being spent on certain products which is why it impacts the economy.
Gastrointestinal diseases cost the Canadian economy $18 billion annually through direct health care costs and lost productivity.
