Cross-cultural factors are important in functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs). In the setting of FGIDs, the aims of this review were to: 1) engender interest in global aspects; 2) gain a clearer understanding of culture, race and ethnicity and their effect on patient care and research; 3) facilitate cross-cultural clinical and research competency; and 4) improve and foster the quality a...

HOW CAN RELAXATION HELP? Research has shown that relaxation provides several health benefits including: decreasing excess arousal produced by worry or anxiety, managing insomnia, buffering the adverse physiological responses to stress, and increasing pain tolerance while decreasing some of the symptoms associated with chronic pain. Relaxation training is also a vital part of any stress manageme...

The Rome II pediatric criteria for functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) were defined in 1999 to be used as diagnostic tools and to advance empirical research. In this document, the Rome III Committee aimed to update and revise the pediatric criteria. The decision-making process to define Rome III criteria for children aged 4-18 years consisted of arriving at a consensus based on clinic...

BACKGROUND/AIMS To estimate the prevalence and evaluate the associated psychological factors of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) in males in their twenties who are currently enrolled in military service. METHODS A total of 1,073 men in the Korean army were asked to complete questionnaires based on the Rome III criteria and Symptom Checklist-90-revised (SCL-90R). The prevalence of...

Probiotics are live microbial food supplements that benefit the host animal by improving intestinal microbial balance. When they are fed in yogurts, they can fall into the category of functional foods. Functional foods include these probiotics, prebiotics, and, to a certain extent, dietary fiber. Prebiotics are nondigestible food ingredients or supplements that alter the intestinal flora and st...

like nausea, vomiting, postprandial fullness, abdominal bloating, abdominal discomfort, heartburn, constipation and diarrhea. It is well known that these symptoms are not always brought about by structural diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. They can, for example, be caused by alterations of gastrointestinal motility and/or sensation. These disorders affect an important percentage of the po...

BACKGROUND Personal relative deprivation is a negative social comparison process typified by self-comparison, negative appraisal, and resultant negative emotionality. Personal relative deprivation has been associated with poorer physical and mental health in several domains. It has been hypothesized that the deprivation-health link operates through a stress pathway. Stress has been specifically...

introduction: functional constipation is one of the most common gastrointestinal symptoms which could affect patients’ quality of life. the colonic transit time test could be used for determining functional constipation subtypes. the aim of our study was to determine the abnormalities of the subtypes of functional constipation using ctt. methods and materials: this cross-sectional study was per...