- A new survey indicates that about 11 percent of people worldwide experience abdominal pain during meals.
- Experts say the discomfort can be caused by a number of factors, from twisted bowels to tumors to conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome.
- They note that frequent abdominal pain can affect quality of life as well as affect a person’s mental health.
About 11 percent of people around the world experience abdominal pain frequently when eating.
Research presented at the United European Gastroenterology Week found that in a survey of 50,000 people worldwide about 13 percent of women and 9 percent of men reported frequent abdominal pain while they eat meals.
“People who experience meal-related abdominal pain more frequently experience other gastrointestinal symptoms and more regularly fulfill criteria for disorders of the gut brain interactions [DGBIs, formerly known as functional gut disorders], including common conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), bloating, and abdominal distention,” Esther Colomier, author of the study and a joint PhD researcher at KU Leuven in Belgium and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, said in a press release.
The study took data from 54,127 people living across 26 countries. Respondents were asked if they experienced abdominal pain and whether the discomfort was related to meals.
The study found 30 percent of the people who said they had pain during meals also experienced lower gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea and constipation.
Bloating and distension of the abdomen was experienced as often as once a week in people who had frequent pain when eating. That’s compared with 2 to 3 days a month of bloating and distension in people who reported only occasional pain during meals. People who didn’t report pain during meals experienced on average one day a month of discomfort.
Source: healthline