Gas causing flatulence is an uncomfortable and really an embarrassing experience, especially when it makes a bad smell or a sound. The term flatulence is used to describe belching, abdominal distension, gurgling and the passage of flatus per rectum. But this article mainly focuses on passage of gas per rectum as it is very embarrassing.
The rectal flatus consists of,
- Nitrogen
- carbon dioxide
- hydrogen
- methane.
Almost all of us pass gas through rectum every day. Passing gas 20 times a day is normal and not due to any pathological condition.
How Gas is Produced
Gas we pass is from two different sources.
- People swallow air involuntarily during eating. Usually this swallowed air is absorbed in to the body through the intestinal wall, but sometimes some of this air may still remain and travel all the way to the rectum to be passed per-rectally.
- Part from above, the bacteria who reside in the intestines can also produce a small amount of gas by degradation of food particles. These are also passed through the rectum.
What are the disease conditions associated with flatulence?
Small intestinal growth of bacteria – Normal small intestine does not have any bacteria. The small intestine contains a lot of undigested food. As I mentioned above, gas can be produced by bacterial break down of food. If the bacteria get a chance to multiply in the small intestine, they get a chance to act on those foods before they are digested and absorbed. Therefore, a lot of gas is produced.
Lactose intolerance – This is a condition in which the intestine lacks the enzymes required for the digestion of lactose. Lactose is present in diary products and once the person eats those foods the lactose remains undigested. This gives a chance for the bacteria to act on it and produce gas.
References: Kumar and Clark’s Clinical Medicine
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