Food Poisoning Summary

In festive seasons, more cases of ‘stomach bug’ happen around. A number of patients waited to see the doctor and complained of having a ‘stomach bug’. Dr Vijay said the reason of causing the stomach upset can be food poisoning caused by contaminated food or simply because we eat or drink too much, so we can get indigestion or an upset stomach. Eating certain types of foods, such as greasy, spicy, or fatty foods sometimes can cause indigestion or an upset stomach. Upset stomach sometimes can be a sign of underlying medical issues, such as gastroesophageal reflux, ulcers, lactose intolerance, irritable bowel syndrome, an intestinal infection, and some types of cancer. Stomach upset usually is a minor problem in adults, but it can be serious for babies and children. Dr Robert Lim said gastroenteritis is commonly know as upset stomach that can be caused by an infection of the gut, either viral or bacterial. Gastroenteritis is an infection of the gut that causes diarrhea. The main risk in gastroenteritis is dehydration, so the main treatment is to drink a lot of fluids. The symptoms of dehydration in adults include tiredness, dizziness, headache, muscular cramps, sunken eyes, passing little urine, dry mouth and tongue, weakness, and irritability. When dehydration becomes serious, the symptoms are general body weakness, confusion, rapid heart-rate and coma. The reason indigestion happen are overeating, eating too fast, drinking too much, and eating fatty, spicy, or greasy food. Dr Lim advises a change in lifestyle such as, eat smaller, more frequent meals, and chew your food well, in addition avoid smoking, alcohol, caffeine, and carbonated beverages. Dr Lim also advises a person to get plenty of rest and find ways to