Assignment 2 - Written (Gut focus) DUE DATE: 5th May. Weight: 40% Must Complete: Yes Word Length: 2000 words Notes: Written assignment This assessment relates to: Learning Outcomes1-5 Watch The...

Running Head: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GI HEALTH AND OBESITY    1
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RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GASTROINTESTINAL HEALTH AND OBESITY
Table of Contents
Introduction    3
Factors surrounding gastrointestinal health that get affected by obesity    3
Dietary and gastrointestinal factors considered in providing education to obese people    5
Gastrointestinal anatomy and physiology affected by obesity    7
Diagnostics and pharmacological treatments for obesity    7
Role of nurse in providing diagnostic and treatment    8
Conclusion    9
References    11
Introduction
    Obesity is one of the biggest health issues of the today’s world. Every other person faces obesity. Obesity is a medical condition, in which excess fat is accumulated in the body (Oliveros, Somers, Sochor, Goel & Lopez-Jimenez, 2014). It leads to negative impact on the body. Change in lifestyle and dietary imbalances are some of the most common reasons for obesity in most people (Trayhurn, 2017). Obesity is a root for many diseases such as diabetes mellitus cardiovascular diseases, depression, osteoarthritis, and obstructive sleep apnoea (Oliveros, Somers, Sochor, Goel & Lopez-Jimenez, 2014).
Some factors that trigger obesity in individual are genetics, hormonal disorder, medication, and mental disorders. An individual is considered obese in weight when their weight exceeds the normal range decided with respect to their height. This range is when body mass index is beyond the normal range, the person is considered obese (Locke et al., 2015). Obesity can be controlled when a person changes their lifestyle, which includes diet and exercise (Polidori, Sanghvi, Seeley & Hall, 2016). Obesity influences the gastrointestinal health of the person. This essay investigates the relationship between obesity and gastrointestinal health.
Factors surrounding gastrointestinal health that get affected by obesity
    Every organ of the gastrointestinal tract is affected by obesity. As suggested by Bluemel et al. (2015), obesity led to the functional gastrointestinal symptoms. Obesity is responsible for diseases like gastro-oesophageal reflux disorder, erosive esophagitis, and Barrett’s oesophagus. When it affects the oesophagus, the stomach may be affected with disorders such as gastric cancer and erosive gastritis. As mentioned by Furukawa et al. (2017), the pancreas, liver and gallbladder may be affected by obesity as cancer and other acute disorders. Functional gastrointestinal disorder is the main problem, which leads to complication in the body due to the obesity.
Nurses must take in account for the symptoms of functional gastrointestinal disorder while dealing with an obese person. As noted by Camilleri, Malhi and Acosta (2017), functional gastrointestinal disorders are common disorders, which are persistent, and recurring gastrointestinal symptoms. This is a result of abnormal functioning of gastrointestinal tract, which is mainly influenced by obesity.
    Recurrent and persistent symptoms include abdominal pain, nausea, bloating, early satiety, distention, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia (Xu & Xue, 2016). Irritable bowel syndrome is the most common symptom that is characterised by chronic abdominal pain, change in bowel habits such as constipation and diarrhoea. It includes sense of incomplete rectal evacuation, passage of mucus with stool, bloating and distention. Routine medical check-ups like blood tests, X-rays and endoscopy are unable to detect these in reports (Schalkwijk, Nijpels, Bot & Elders, 2016). Patients verbally narrate their condition to doctor or nurse.
During the assessment of obese patient, doctors or nurses need to ask about the symptoms of a patient’s functional gastrointestinal disorder, so that treatment can be done in the right direction (Kaczmarek, Thompson & Holscher, 2017). It has been observed that most of the time patients do not take these symptoms seriously. All these symptoms are root of major disorders of gastrointestinal tract such as acid reflux. These symptoms are leading cause of hindrance in daily activities of the obese person. Although, these symptoms do not have any severe damage to the body but obesity can lead to severe diseases of gastrointestinal tract such as colon cancer, pancreatic cancer and gastric cancer.
    Muscular activities of gastrointestinal tract become abnormal under the influence of functional gastrointestinal disorder. There is muscular spasm that can cause pain and the contraction is very rapid. As noted by Nadaleto, Herbella and Patti (2016), obesity leads to gastro-oesophageal reflux in the individual. Gastro-oesophageal reflux is a process, in which acid from the stomach moves back to the oesophagus. This results in the irritation in the lining of the oesophagus.
It is a mild acid reflux, which many people experience time to time. In obese people, acid reflux can occur twice or thrice a week. As mentioned by Schalkwijk, Nijpels, Bot and Elders (2016), the intensity of reflux can be moderate to severe. Common symptoms of the reflux are burning sensation in chest or after eating at night, chest pain, difficulty in swallowing, and feeling of lump in throat. When acid reflux occurs at night after dinner, an individual may have trouble in sleep, chronic cough, asthma and laryngitis. Change in lifestyle results in obesity, which in turn, brings about an abnormality in the body. These directly affect the normality of gastrointestinal health (Kaczmarek, Thompson & Holscher, 2017). It has been observed that large number of people is suffering from poor gastrointestinal health due to the obesity.
Dietary and gastrointestinal factors considered in providing...