Part 4 of 5 – It’s Just Gas
Stomach gas is a common complaint. Nearly everyone at some time or other has experienced the symptoms, the sensation of feeling bloated, the feeling of difficulty in breathing and, very frequently, a fluttering of the heart. These are the prominent features of that digestive dilemma which is commonly known under the title of “stomach gas or gas on the stomach.”
There is no doubt about it, an abnormal accumulation of gas in the stomach can give rise to all of these symptoms. The important thing is to know exactly what is causing the trouble, since there are many different conditions which can bring it about. Nowadays there is altogether too much tendency toward taking some “wind pill” and dismissing the matter from the mind with a few lusty belches.
The condition can be caused by many other things than the mere food put into the stomach. In fact, the food itself can be entirely beyond reproach, but if it is served ice cold or scalding hot, the difference in temperature between the food so served and the wall of the stomach will promptly bring about a nervous reaction which induces a reflex dilation of the stomach. This added space is promptly filled with air and then constitutes “stomach gas.”
Actually the formation of gas from food that has been taken in is a relatively rare condition and occurs only in cases of severe stomach trouble. In these the expulsion of food is delayed for a great length of time and in the absence of proper juices, fermentation of the food eaten takes place.
An elderly man, under the care of Dr. Anthony A. Martin of London, had been suffering for some time from severe dyspepsia. A marked feature of his case was fermentative decomposition of the contents of the stomach, with frequent eructation’s of foul gas. “These,” he said, “tasted like rotten gas.” One day, two hours after a light breakfast, he was obliged to eructate just as he was lighting his pipe. Instantly there were a blinding flash and a slight report, due to ignition of the gases released from the stomach. The patient’s beard and eyebrows were thoroughly singed, but happily no further damage was done.
Such occurrences are rare, but similar ones are observed from time to time by almost every specialist in stomach and intestinal ailments. Indeed, in these cases the “gas” is more likely to be located in the colon and throughout the intestines. However, the average person does not stoop to any such fine distinction. Anything north of his belt must be in the stomach.
Actually, however, these symptoms arise far more often when there is inflammation of the colon (colitis) or cases in which there are small pockets along the lining of the colon (diverticula) or in cases in which there are small wart like growths on the inside of the colon (polyposis). All these conditions can be, and often are, associated with the presence of an abnormal amount of gas in those organs found within the abdominal cavity; in other words “the stomach.”
One can see from the foregoing how the common term, therefore, leads to an error in thinking, and errors in thinking sooner or later mean trouble. To spare ourselves this kind of avoidable trouble, it might be well to get some definite information about the colon in health and in illness so that we can be correct in our feeding and skillful in the care of certain of these intestinal troubles. This site is devoted to this task. Stomach gas part 5.
