User:Youngal97/sandbox

Article Evaluation:

The gastroparesis article is very underdeveloped and needs work in the prognosis section, as well as the rearrangement of some information from the causes section that could fall into a category such as epidemiology. The current prevalence section only discusses women and americans in general, and does not go into detail about rates of gastroparesis in other ethnic groups. I plan on updating the causes section with a more detailed molecular basis for the disease and I plan on updating the prevalence section, or changing it to an epidemiology section. The diagnosis section could also use some more details or examples.

Causes:

On the molecular level, it is thought that gastroparesis can be caused by the loss of neuronal nitric oxide expression since the cells in the GI tract secrete nitric oxide. This important signaling molecule has various responsibilities in the GI tract and in muscle contraction throughout the body. When nitric oxide levels are low, the smooth muscle and other organs may not be able to function properly. Other important components of the stomach are the interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) which act as a pacemaker since they transduce signals from motor neurons to produce an electrical rhythm in the smooth muscle cells. Lower nitric oxide levels also correlate with loss of ICC cells, which can ultimately lead to the loss of function in the smooth muscle in the stomach, as well as in other areas of the gastrointestinal tract.

Diagnosis:

For the x-ray, the patient drinks a liquid after fasting containing barium which will show up in the x-ray and the physician is able to see if there is still food in the stomach as well. This can be an easy way to identify whether the patient has delayed emptying of the stomach.

In other cases or if the x-ray is inconclusive, the physician may have the patient eat a meal of beef containing barium so they can watch as it is being digested and see how slowly the digestive tract is moving. This can be helpful for diagnosing patients who are able to digest liquids but not solid foods.

Epidemiology:

There has only been one true epidemiological study of idiopathic gastroparesis which was completed by the Rochester Epidemiology Project. They looked at patients from 1996-2006 who were seeking medical attention instead of a random population sample and found that the prevalence of delayed gastric emptying was four fold higher in women. It is difficult for medical professionals and researchers to collect enough data and provide accurate numbers since studying gastroparesis requires specialized laboratories and equipment.