Digestive Tract

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    The Unnecessary Suffering of Women With Obstetric Fistulas

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    One of the most dangerous things a woman can do in much of the world is become pregnant, and the risks caught up with a Kenyan named Alice Wanjiru a decade ago.Then 20 years old and pregnant for the first time, she suffered a childbirth injury called an obstetric fistula, caused by prolonged labor without access to a C-section to end it. This left her with a hole in the tissue between her rectum and her vagina, and for 10 years she endured the humiliation of continually leaking stool through her genital tract.“I could never get fully clean, for there was always some stool left,” she told me. “The other women would say, ‘She is the woman who stinks.’ I would ask God, ‘Why me? Why can’t I be like other women?’”Wanjiru bathed herself several times a day, fasted from morning until evening so there wouldn’t be much in her digestive tract during the day, and always wore a sanitary pad. Doctors misdiagnosed her, sex was a nightmare and her husband abandoned her after harshly accusing her of having poor hygiene.Shamed by the continuous odor, she withdrew from friends and stayed home from church and other gatherings. She endured her shame in solitude, year after year.Perhaps one million or two million women worldwide are enduring fistulas and leak stool or, more commonly, urine through their vaginas. These are typically impoverished women in poor countries where home births are the norm, who couldn’t get to a doctor in time for a needed C-section.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Can Exercise Help With I.B.S.?

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      Working out is not a cure-all for your gut, but it can be an important part of managing your symptoms.Exercise is often heralded as a “wonder drug” for just about every part of the body, whether it’s the brain, the heart, the pelvic floor or the lungs. But what about the stomach?While going for a jog with a sensitive stomach is rarely appealing, regular activity is an important part of treating many gut maladies, particularly irritable bowel syndrome. In fact, a lack of movement, perhaps because of an injury, can even be the initial trigger for I.B.S.“Exercise is part of lifestyle management, which is the first-line treatment for any patient with I.B.S. or other bowel-related issues,” said Dr. Anthony Lembo, the research director of the Cleveland Clinic’s Digestive Disease Institute.What does exercise have to do with a healthy stomach?Studies have consistently shown that I.B.S. patients who exercise regularly have fewer symptoms than those who don’t. But, while experts agree that mild to moderate exercise is beneficial, the reasons are a bit of a mystery.I.B.S. is caused by miscommunication between the brain and the gut, which leads to pain and bloating during the normal digestion process. For some people it primarily causes constipation, while others experience mostly diarrhea or a combination of the two.The digestive system has a complex network of neurons — sometimes called the “second brain” — that controls blood flow, secretions and hundreds of gut functions through the vagus nerve, which connects the brain to organs in the body. As such, the brain has an outsize influence on the digestive tract, and vice versa.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Hiking Trail in Hawaii Closes After Norovirus Outbreak

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      Four people tested positive for the virus, which causes a highly contagious gastrointestinal illness, officials said. The trail was recommended to remain closed until at least Sept. 19.A popular hiking trail on the island of Kauai in Hawaii was closed this week after more than three dozen people fell ill in what officials said was a “rare occurrence” of the highly contagious norovirus.The Kalalau Trail, a 22-mile round-trip stretch within the Napali Coast State Wilderness Park, was recommended to remain closed until at least Sept. 19 while Department of Health officials assessed the ongoing risk of transmission and as stations along the trail were cleaned and disinfected.The Health Department received reports of illness from at least 37 hikers and campers over the last several weeks, though the actual number is expected to be higher, officials said.“This is a very concerning and rare occurrence, magnified by the extreme remote nature of the Kalalau Valley,” Curt Cottrell, an administrator for state parks, said in a statement.The trail was closed on Wednesday after health officials received numerous reports of gastrointestinal illnesses from hikers, and on Thursday the Health Department said that test results from four patients confirmed that they had contracted norovirus.The state’s Department of Land and Natural Resources said in a statement that dozens of backpackers along the trail had reported gastrointestinal illness, and that one person had been evacuated but no one had been hospitalized.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      How E. Coli in Food Makes People Sick

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      The bacteria sickens an estimated 265,000 Americans each year.Last week, federal officials announced recalls of ground beef and organic walnuts because they were potentially contaminated with E. coli bacteria that can make people sick.The recalls involve more than 16,000 pounds of ground beef distributed by Cargill Meat Solutions and sold at Wal-Mart stores in 11 states, as well as organic shelled walnuts sold in bulk in natural food and co-op stores in 19 states. So far, the recalled walnuts have been associated with 12 illnesses, including seven hospitalizations, in Washington State and California.No illnesses have been reported from the ground beef recall, although ground beef remains one of the most common sources of illnesses from these bacteria, which are responsible for an estimated 265,000 illnesses annually. Most of these, however, are not diagnosed or tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because people often recover on their own without visiting a doctor, said Matthew Wise, chief of the C.D.C.’s Outbreak Response and Prevention Branch.Here’s what you need to know about E. coli to stay safe.Where You’ll Find the BacteriaThere are many different kinds of E. coli, and most of them are harmless to humans, said microbiologist Edward G. Dudley, director of the E. Coli Reference Center at Pennsylvania State University.Some types do, however, make people sick, he said. Those that most commonly cause illness in humans, known as Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, primarily reside in cow intestines, which is why they often contaminate ground beef. The E. coli implicated in the ongoing walnut and ground beef recalls are a type of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli.Because these bacteria eventually work their way out of animal intestines and into feces, they can also contaminate farm soil, which is why E. coli outbreaks are also often tied to produce, Dr. Dudley explained. They can also contaminate ponds, lakes and rivers.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More