Health Library

DIGEST Patient Education Library

Simple, reliable information on digestive and liver health, endoscopy preparation, and clinical procedures — written by our DIGEST specialists.

A–Z conditions index

Patient Education

Understand Your Condition

Trusted articles by GI specialists to help you understand your digestive health

Constipation

Constipation means having fewer than three bowel movements per week, or stools that are hard, dry, and difficult to pass.

Heartburn & Acid Reflux

Heartburn is a burning feeling in your chest, behind the breastbone.

Obesity & Digestive Health

Obesity doesn't just affect your heart and joints — it has a major impact on your digestive system.

Healthy Diet for Your Gut

What you eat directly affects your digestive health.

Bloating & Gas

Bloating is that uncomfortable feeling of fullness or swelling in your abdomen.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

IBS is a common condition that affects the large intestine.

Hemorrhoids

Hemorrhoids are swollen blood vessels in the rectum or anus — similar to varicose veins.

Stomach Ulcers (Peptic Ulcers)

Stomach ulcers are open sores that develop on the lining of the stomach or the upper part of the small intestine.

Fatty Liver Disease

Fatty liver disease (NAFLD) means too much fat is stored in your liver cells.

Colon Cancer Prevention

Colorectal cancer is one of the most preventable cancers.

Lactose Intolerance

Lactose intolerance means your body can't fully digest lactose — the sugar found in milk and dairy products.

Diarrhea

Diarrhea means passing loose or watery stools three or more times a day.

Nausea & Vomiting

Nausea is that queasy, unsettled feeling in your stomach that makes you feel like you might vomit.

Gallstones

Gallstones are hard deposits that form in your gallbladder — a small organ under your liver that stores bile.

Difficulty Swallowing (Dysphagia)

Dysphagia means difficulty swallowing — food or liquid takes extra effort or time to move from your mouth to your stomach.

Fiber & Gut Health

Fiber is one of the most important nutrients for digestive health.

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that can affect any part of your digestive tract from your mouth to your anus, though it most commonly affects the end of the small intestine and the beginning of the large intestine.

Ulcerative Colitis

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that affects the colon and rectum.

IBD Medications

Managing inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis) often requires medications to reduce inflammation, suppress the immune system, and control symptoms.

Colonoscopy Preparation

Colonoscopy is a 20–30 minute procedure where a thin, flexible tube with a tiny camera is passed through the rectum to examine the entire large intestine.

Upper Endoscopy (EGD) Preparation

An upper endoscopy (also called EGD or gastroscopy) is a 10–15 minute procedure where a thin, flexible camera is passed through the mouth to examine the esophagus, stomach, and the first part of the small intestine (duodenum).

H. pylori Infection

Helicobacter pylori (H.

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B is a viral infection of the liver caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV).

Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C is a viral liver infection that, until recently, had no good treatment — but that changed completely.

Celiac Disease

Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition where eating gluten — a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye — triggers your immune system to attack the lining of your small intestine.

Gastric Balloon

A gastric balloon (also called intragastric balloon) is a soft silicone balloon placed in the stomach during a 20-minute endoscopy and filled with sterile saline.

Diverticular Disease

Diverticular disease occurs when small pouches (diverticula) form in weak spots of the colon wall.

Pancreatitis

Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas — the gland that produces digestive enzymes and insulin.

Liver Cirrhosis

Cirrhosis is the late stage of scarring (fibrosis) of the liver caused by long-term liver damage.

Barrett's Esophagus

Barrett's esophagus is a condition where the normal lining of the esophagus changes to resemble the lining of the intestine — usually as a result of long-standing acid reflux (GERD).

Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE)

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic immune-mediated disease where a type of white blood cell (eosinophil) builds up in the esophagus, causing inflammation.

Gastroparesis (Delayed Gastric Emptying)

Gastroparesis means the stomach takes much longer than normal to empty its contents into the small intestine — without any physical blockage.

SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth)

SIBO occurs when bacteria that normally live in the large intestine colonize the small intestine in excessive numbers.

Anal Fissure

An anal fissure is a small tear in the thin, moist tissue lining the anal canal.

Colon Polyps

Colon polyps are small clumps of cells that form on the lining of the colon.

Functional Dyspepsia

Functional dyspepsia (FD) is chronic upper abdominal discomfort — pain, burning, early fullness, or bloating after eating — with no structural cause found on endoscopy or imaging.

Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

Pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) occurs when the muscles of the pelvic floor — which support the bladder, bowel, and uterus or prostate — fail to coordinate properly during defecation.

Achalasia

Achalasia is a rare but serious esophageal motility disorder in which the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) fails to relax during swallowing and the esophagus loses its co-ordinated peristaltic contractions.

Dietary Therapy for Eosinophilic Esophagitis

Dietary therapy is one of the most effective treatments for eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), achieving histological remission (fewer than 15 eosinophils per high-power field on biopsy) in 50–80% of patients without the need for long-term medication.

Functional Constipation

Functional constipation is chronic constipation without an identifiable structural, biochemical, or medication-related cause.

Microscopic Colitis

Microscopic colitis is a common but under-recognised cause of chronic, watery, non-bloody diarrhoea, particularly in middle-aged and older adults.

Bile Acid Malabsorption

Bile acid malabsorption (BAM) — also called bile acid diarrhoea — occurs when bile acids that should be reabsorbed in the terminal ileum instead spill into the colon, where they stimulate water and electrolyte secretion and accelerate colonic motility, causing chronic watery diarrhoea.

Gastric Intestinal Metaplasia

Gastric intestinal metaplasia (GIM) is a precancerous change in the stomach lining in which the normal gastric glandular epithelium is replaced by intestine-type cells.

Functional Anorectal Pain

Functional anorectal pain encompasses two Rome IV-defined disorders: proctalgia fugax (sudden, severe, brief episodes of rectal pain lasting from seconds to a few minutes, then resolving completely) and levator ani syndrome (a dull aching pressure or discomfort in the rectum or pelvis lasting 20 minutes or longer).

Esophageal Stricture and Dysphagia

Esophageal stricture is a narrowing of the esophageal lumen that causes progressive difficulty swallowing (dysphagia).

Fecal Incontinence

Fecal incontinence — the involuntary loss of control over bowel movements, causing unintended leakage of stool — affects up to 10% of adults and is profoundly under-reported because of embarrassment and the mistaken belief that it is an inevitable part of ageing.