Paper instructions:
Select a scholarly article discussing a disorder of carbohydrate digestion. Summarize the content of that article in a 300 word essay (APA format).
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Diarrhea caused by Carbohydrate Malabsorption
Carbohydrates provide most of the calories in the human body, but they pose many challenges in both digestion and absorption when supplied in excess. Malabsorption refers to a process in which carbohydrates reach to colon after breaking free of absorption at the intestinal walls (Hammer, & Hammer, 2012). Complete or incomplete bacteria metabolism can take place at the colon. As a result, diarrhea is one of the most common disorder that is caused. The process of bacteria formation of diarrhea starts the moment absorption of the carbohydrates don’t take place at the small intestines. When this happens, it affects the metabolization of the colonic bacteria lactic acid and short-chain fatty acids – organic acid, the acids are then assimilated across the colonic mucosa. The manifestation of osmotic diarrhea happens the moment organic acids escapes the absorption process and for the non-metabolized carbohydrates, they remain in the colonic lumen.
Howbeit, there are several influencing factors that cause manifestation of carbohydrate malabsorption. To begin with, the consistency of the stool is influenced by its composition . Secondly, colonic transit correlates to the weight of the stool. Not absorbed osmotic load of carbohydrates, short-chain fatty acids together with electrolytes they significantly influence the colonic transit (Ghoshal, & Ghoshal, 2020). Thirdly, organic acids, electrolyte, and carbohydrates outcome affects osmotic fluid withholding at the colonic transit, predominantly in the proximal and distal colon. Lastly, colonic transit is notably slower at similar stool weight during carbohydrate malabsorption than the colonic volume load of other origins. Therefore, malabsorbed carbohydrates which causes diarrhea may be as a result of non-performing colonic salvage.
References
Hammer, H. F., & Hammer, J. (2012). Diarrhea caused by carbohydrate malabsorption. Gastroenterology Clinics, 41(3), 611-627.
Ghoshal, U. C., & Ghoshal, U. (2020). Investigations for dietary carbohydrate malabsorption and gut microbiota. In Clinical and Basic Neurogastroenterology and Motility (pp. 359-370). Academic Press.
