User:Justiceforryuji/Abdominal aura

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Abdominal aura (from Latin abdomen, "belly," and aura, "wind, odor, or gleam of light"), also known as visceral aura and epigastric aura, is a type of somatosensory aura that typically manifests as abdominal discomfort in the form of nausea, malaise, hunger, or pain. Abdominal aura is typically associated with migraine or epilepsy, especially temporal lobe epilepsy. The term is used in opposition to various terms denoting other types of somatosensory aura, notably visual disturbances and paraesthesia. The abdominal aura can be classified as a somatic hallucination. Pathophysiologically, the abdominal aura is associated with aberrant neuronal discharges in sensory cortical areas representing the abdominal viscera.

Presentation
Other presentations of the abdominal aura include viscerosensitive sensations such as abdominal discomfort, visceromotor symptoms presenting in the form of tachycardia, borborygmi or vomiting, and vegetative symptoms such as blushing and sweating. Depending on the etiology, symptoms may last seconds to hours.

Epilepsy
In epilepsy, aura refers to a type of focal seizure, in which seizure activity is limited to a portion of the brain and the person remains conscious and may experience a wide variety of sensory effects. This type of focal seizure can often, but does not always, evolve into a generalized seizure. Abdominal aura is a common type of epileptic aura, and it is very common in temporal lobe epilepsy compared to extratemporal focal epilepsies. In one study, more than half of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy experienced abdominal aura, and most of those cases of abdominal aura evolved into a generalized motor seizzure.

Migraine
Nausea, vomiting, and abdominal discomfort are common symptoms of migraine, and do not necessarily indicate the presence of a migraine aura. Migraine aura typically precedes the onset of headache, evolves slowly, and most commonly consists of visual, sensory, and/or speech and language changes.

Related Disorders
Abdominal aura is also seen in some disorders that are closely related to migraine, including cyclical vomiting syndrome and abdominal migraine.

Cyclical vomiting syndrome is a condition associated with recurrent episodic attacks of vomiting with periods of normalcy in between. It most commonly presents in childhood, and its symptoms overlap strongly with the gastrointestinal symptoms of migraine.

Abdominal migraine is an episodic disorder associated with recurring episodes of severe abdominal pain in the absence of headache. In addition to abdominal pain, symptoms often include anorexia, nausea, vomiting, and pallor. Episodes typically last 2-72 hours, and patients are completely symptom-free in between episodes. It most commonly presents during childhood, and most children who experience abdominal migraine will go on to develop migraine headaches later in life.