Doctor’s Senior Exercise & Health Newsletter

Dumping Syndrome…

Dumping syndrome is strictly a digestive problem. After chewing and swallowing our food, it remains in the stomach for three to four hours. The normal digestion process starts during that stage. The food after being ground and prepared for digestion with stomach enzymes then continues on into the small intestine. When the individual experiences dumping syndrome, the food will leave the stomach soon after eating, probably within a two-hour period. They will break out in a sweat with a feeling of dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting and heart palpitations.

There can be a variety of conditions that will bring on the dumping syndromes. Individuals having undergone a gastrectomy, which is a reduction in the size of the stomach, leaving only a small pouch. Other causes can be viral infections, bacterial infections, fungal infections and food poisonings.

After the undigested food is dumped into the small intestine, it will try to continue the digestive process by drawing fluid from the circulatory system. As this fluid is being drawn from the circulatory system, there will be drop in the blood pressure. This causes the symptoms outlined above. All of this process can occur within 15 minutes to a half hour after eating.

After about two hours of the above sequence, the condition enters another stage of the process and there is a recurrence of sweating, dizziness, weakness and nausea. The individual can also become mentally confused. Symptoms of hypoglycemia may also occur about 2 hours after eating. The hypoglycemia is in response to the meal eaten and the cause is the very rapid absorption of glucose into the blood circulation. When this occurs, there is an increase of insulin and the result is hypoglycemia. Usually the individual will be losing weight.

When dumping syndrome becomes an ongoing condition for any length of the time, the patient can become anemic and osteoporosis can develop. Due to the lack of the proper absorption of the normally needed nutrients, other deficiencies will cause other illnesses as well. Treating the dumping syndrome is the number one priority, and what the individual can is outlined below in health hints.

1. High protein foods should be eaten so as to overcome the weight loss.
2. Dry foods should be eaten, as dry foods will have a tendency to stay in the stomach longer.
3. Smaller meals should be eaten. These meals should be eaten 5 to 6 times daily instead of 3 larger meals.
4. The individual should lie down after a large meal.

Following the above regime should greatly help in alleviating the dumping syndrome. However, if there is no improvement after a short period of time, it is highly recommended they see their healthcare provider. To allow the condition to continue will cause serious health consequences.