1 What is the severity of the stomach? In its essence, this feeling of overflow and pressure inside the abdomen, around the epigastrium under the ribs, as well as a feeling of early satiety when eating. This phenomenon is considered one of the signs of dyspepsia - a violation of the normal functioning of the stomach in the part of digestion. Usually, the heaviness in the stomach after eating is a dyskinetic variant of dyspepsia associated with motor, suction and evacuation dysfunction.

In addition to discomfort, dyspepsia symptoms can include belching, nausea,gassing, flatulence, heartburn, burning sensation. There may be pain syndrome at the top of the abdomen. In general, a feeling of heaviness arises when the stomach cavity is filled due to the fact that:

• the organ does not have time to process the incoming food mass;
• can not normally direct it into the intestine or produce excessive food decay products.

The causes of this anomaly are divided into functional( non-pathogenic), which act without organ damage, and organic( pathological) associated with pathological processes.

Several basic mechanisms of gastric dyspepsia can be distinguished. The alimentary type is determined by the volume, regimen and diet of food and drink. As a rule, such a heaviness in the stomach manifests after eating. Especially distinguished are such varieties of alimentary disorders as fermentation( with the predominance of carbohydrates and fermented beverages: kvass, beer), putrefactive( protein foods and stale foods, especially meat products) and fatty indigestion.

When a heaviness in the stomach occurs after eating, it can be caused by a lack of enzymes that ensure food processing. Etiology of the phenomenon may be associated with gastrogenic( insufficient secretion of gastric enzymes), pancreatic( pancreatic disorders), enterogenic( intestinal juice deficiency) and hepatogenic( dysfunction of the liver in the part of bile secretion) dyspepsia.

Severity in the stomach, nausea, heartburn and other symptoms can occur if the absorption of nutrients in the stomach and intestines is impaired, as well as when the peristalsis slows down. The food is not absorbed fully or too slowly evacuated from the gastrointestinal tract, which ensures its stagnation.

2 Alimentary causes of the phenomenon

The most common causes of severity in the stomach after eating are related to nutrition, refer to alimentary dyspepsia. The following factors can be identified:

• excessive consumption of hard-to-digest products;
• overeating and eating at a later time;
• frequent snacks in the interval between the main and abundant food;
• food "on the go" and frequent use of fast food establishments;
• non-compliance with diet, starvation, alternation of fasting with a plentiful lunch;
• abuse of carbonated beverages;
• use of stale and spoiled products.

After eating, the heaviness in the stomach and eructation are often caused by foods that, for various reasons, are digested slowly: oily, fried and spicy foods( especially fried potatoes with lard);products with an excess of "bad" carbohydrates( flour products, sugar, cakes, sweets);nourishing vegetables and fruits( potatoes, legumes, grapes, bananas);hard-to-digest products( hard-boiled eggs, mushrooms).

Belching, nausea and heaviness in the stomach may occur due to improper drinking regimen. So, drinking during lunch creates the following problems:

• a decrease in the effectiveness of gastric juice with a drink immediately after a meal;
• increase in the total volume of the food dose when drinking along with the consumption of products;
• irritation of the gastric mucosa with carbonated drinks during their drinking during or immediately after dinner.

Given these facts, if heaviness and burping are frequent after meals, you should drink before or after meals with an interval of 25 to 35 minutes.

Drinks have a marked effect on the manifestation of dyspepsia. Discomfort can arise as a result of irritation of the mucous membrane with strong coffee or tea, wine. Excessive and ill-considered drinking of carbonated drinks, kvass, beer can provoke gravity and belching with air. Even whole cow milk for some adult organisms can become a hard-digestible product, which is associated with the individual characteristics of a person.

Dyspeptic symptoms, including nausea and heaviness in the stomach, may occur during overeating. When consuming an excessively large single portion of products, the stomach simply can not cope with processing, and the process is very slow. The situation is aggravated by poor chewing food. Even worse weight in the stomach and nausea are manifested if a large portion of food comes after a forced hunger period. Complicating the process of digestion and psychological conditions. Strong stress can cause noticeable dyspepsia.

3 Non-food causes of dyspepsia

A feeling of heaviness in the stomach and other dyspeptic symptoms can appear even without being linked to the time of ingestion. Discomfort in the abdomen without pathological changes can be detected on an empty stomach for the following functional reasons:

1. Uncontrolled intake of a number of medications( eg, antibiotics).
2. Excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, lemonade, coca-cola and other similar products, as well as smoking.
3. Constantly overestimated stress level leads to increased secretion of hydrochloric acid.
4. Pregnancy of women: due to the compression of the stomach increased in size by the uterus.

4 Pathogenic factors

The pathological nature of the phenomenon can be suspected when there is a constant severity in the stomach and often manifests a pain symptom, stool and other dyspeptic symptoms. The digestive process begins with the oral cavity, where the splitting of carbohydrates starts with the help of saliva;continues in the stomach under the action of gastric juice and terminates in the duodenum, where it is exposed to bile. At the last stage, the liver, pancreas, gallbladder and small intestine take an active part in digestion. Thus, any violation of at least one of these organs can induce dyspepsia after ingestion.

The most characteristic pathologies that cause gravity in the stomach can be identified:

1. Gastritis( acute or chronic).Inflammatory process, which can be triggered by a violation of the secretion of hydrochloric acid, but most often - as a result of infection with Helicobacter pylori. In addition to the severity, manifested by such signs: nausea, vomiting, belching with an unpleasant odor, severe pain in the epigastric zone.
2. Ulcer of the stomach and duodenum. Etiology is similar to gastritis, develops in the form of ulcerative formations. When healing ulcers are scarred, which narrows the lumen. This pathology is characterized by sensitive pain, heaviness in the abdomen and vomiting with acidic contents.
3. Stomach cancer. Long time is not accompanied by painful sensations, the heaviness in the stomach, nausea, rare vomiting and abnormal stool are revealed. On the advanced stages there are severe pain and frequent vomiting. The disease can be recognized if the severity in the abdomen is combined with weight loss, weakness, fatigue, pallor, a slight increase in temperature, anemia of the blood.
4. Chronic pancreatitis. Disease of the pancreas with a violation of the production of enzymes for digestion of food. In addition to the severity, characterized by bloating, nausea, vomiting, pain syndrome in the left hypochondrium, the navel and back underneath the ribs( girdling pains), fat, mushy feces.
5. Cholecystitis and cholelithiasis. Expressed nausea, vomiting with bile, signs of jaundice, belching bitter compound, a violation of the stool, painful sensations in the right hypochondrium.
6. Hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver. Are capable to cause symptoms of dyspepsia. Symptoms: pain in the right upper quadrant, signs of jaundice, stool disruption, and with cirrhosis - the manifestation of veins through the skin of the abdomen, an increase in the circumference of the abdomen due to the accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity.
7. Gastroenteritis. Infection of the stomach and small intestine. Symptoms: nausea, severe vomiting, diarrhea and fever.

5 Treatment of anomaly

How to remove the heaviness in the stomach? Given the greatest prevalence of nutritional causes of the phenomenon, treatment should begin with the optimization of diet and diet. Do not eat foods that the stomach can not normally digest, and even more so you can not overeat.

When the heaviness in the stomach is tortured, treatment can be carried out with medicines, but necessarily after consultation with a gastroenterologist or therapist. The fact is that in the presence of causative diseases, basic therapy of directed action is necessary. Symptomatic treatment for the elimination of discomfort is carried out as an additional measure. The following medicines are most often used( most often in the form of tablets or dragees):

1. Mezim: it helps with heaviness in the abdomen, eructation of various types, pain of pulling character.
2. Festal: taken with food.
3. Smecta: it is prescribed for various digestive disorders, gastritis, ulcers.
4. Panzinorm: useful for violations of the pancreas, gall bladder, cystic fibrosis, various symptoms of dyspepsia.
5. Allochol: helps fight biliary stasis and is used to excrete bile.
6. Motilac: normalizes the motor function of the stomach and duodenum, accelerates the digestion process.
7. Motilium: has a beneficial effect on the peristalsis of the stomach, has antiemetic properties, affecting the tone of the sphincter between the stomach and esophagus, normalizes the emptying of the stomach.
8. Omez: can be used in the presence of peptic ulcer, reduces the secretion of hydrochloric acid.
9. De-Nol: a cure for astringent properties, has antibacterial and protective effects, useful for ulcers and gastritis.
10. Gastal: is aimed at lowering the acidity of gastric juice.
11. Rennie: it is made on the basis of magnesium and calcium carbonate, is prescribed at high acidity of the juice.
12. Ranitidine: reduces the aggressiveness of the stomach, improves blood microcirculation.

The severity in the stomach is most often caused by malnutrition caused by excessive consumption of indigestible products or by the absence of a normal regimen. At the same time, this phenomenon can be a symptom of a serious illness. If you have a chronic manifestation of gastric discomfort after eating, you should consult a doctor to find out the reasons.