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malabsorption
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malabsorption

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Also known as malabsorption syndrome, malabsorption syndromes, obsolete malabsorption syndrome

Malabsorption is a state arising from abnormality in absorption of food nutrients across the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Impairment can be of single or multiple nutrients depending on the abnormality. This may lead to malnutrition and a variety of anaemias.

Key facts

Medical condition (new).name
Malabsorption
Medical condition (new).image
whipple2.jpg
Medical condition (new).caption
Whipple's disease: Alcian blue with apparently eosin counterstain enlarged villus with many macrophages
Medical condition (new).field
Gastroenterology
Medical condition (new).complications
Malnutrition; anaemia; steatorrhoea; diarrhoea
Medical condition (new).causes
Coeliac disease; short bowel syndrome; lactase deficiency; exocrine pancreatic insufficiency; small intestinal bacterial overgrowth; Whipple's disease; genetic diseases; certain medications
Medical condition (new).treatment
Depends on cause

via Wikipedia infobox

Research

53,599 papers

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Wikidata facts

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~14 min read

Article

18 sections
Contents
  • Signs and symptoms
  • Gastrointestinal manifestations
  • Extraintestinal manifestations
  • Presentation
  • Causes
  • Pathophysiology
  • Diagnosis
  • Classification
  • Blood tests
  • Stool studies
  • Radiological studies
  • Interventional studies
  • Other investigations
  • Obsolete tests no longer used clinically
  • Management
  • See also
  • References
  • External links

Malabsorption is a state arising from abnormality in absorption of food nutrients across the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Impairment can be of single or multiple nutrients depending on the abnormality. This may lead to malnutrition and a variety of anaemias.

Normally the human gastrointestinal tract digests and absorbs dietary nutrients with remarkable efficiency. A typical Western diet ingested by an adult in one day includes approximately 100 g of fat, 400 g of carbohydrate, 100 g of protein, 2 L of fluid, and the required sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, vitamins, and other elements. Salivary, gastric, intestinal, hepatic, and pancreatic secretions add an additional 7–8 L of protein-, lipid-, and electrolyte-containing fluid to intestinal contents. This massive load is reduced by the small and large intestines to less than 200 g of stool that contains less than 8 g of fat, 1–2 g of nitrogen, and less than 20 mmol each of , , , , , or .

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