Zollinger Ellison syndrome is a disorder that causes tumors in the pancreas or small intestine. It is a rare disorder that develops in people of age group 25-50 years. ZE syndrome causes tumors, also called as gastrinomas in the small intestine which in turn triggers the stomach to secrete excess of acid. Mild to moderate kind of ZE syndrome can be managed with medications that help in reducing stomach acid. Only in severe cases chemotherapy/radiation or surgery is required.
Process Of Digestion :
Anything that you put inside your mouth travels through the esophagus along with saliva and enters the stomach. The process of digestion begins right from your mouth wherein the food gets broken into small pieces and gets mixed with saliva to form a pulp. Several enzymes and digestive juices are secreted in the stomach where the food gets broken down further. After few minutes of action in the stomach, partially digested food particles would enter the duodenum (small tube found in small intestine).
The digestion process continues further in the duodenum where the food pulp gets mixed with insulin hormone produced by the pancreas. This hormone helps in maintaining blood sugar in the body by absorption of sugar molecules in the food and the liver helps in digesting fat molecules. Complete absorption of food takes place in the small intestine and leftover residue is pushed into the large intestine and gets expelled through the rectum.
Symptoms :
Some of the major symptoms of ZE syndrome include diarrhea, stomach pain, nausea and vomiting and sudden burning pain in the upper abdomen. In due course, the affected person may feel fullness of stomach and bloated feeling. It can cause internal bleeding in the small intestine. For some people due to formation of tumor, weight loss would be there.