malabsorption - Causes

The failure of intestinal absorption of nutrients taken as food. In general, this results in diarrhoea, abdominal pain and distension, loss of weight, anaemia, and features of specific vitamin deficiencies. Underlying causes include the tropical disease sprue, which may have an infective cause; abnormal bacterial proliferation in the small intestine, due to congenital or acquired blind loops of intestine; Crohn's disease, a non-specific chronic inflammation of the alimentary tract that affects young people; and pancreatic disease. The most important cause in the UK is coeliac disease.

Malabsorption is the state of impaired absorption of nutrients in the small intestine. Diarrhea is often present clinically, although this may not be the immediate cause for seeing a physician.

The main purpose of the GI tract is the digestion and absorption of major nutrients (fat, carbohydrate, and protein), essential micronutrients (vitamins and trace minerals), water, and electrolytes. Mechanical processes include chewing, gastric churning, and the to-and-fro mixing in the small intestine. Enzymatic hydrolysis is initiated by intraluminal processes requiring gastric, pancreatic, and biliary secretions.

Causes

Coeliac disease Crohn's disease Insufficiency of the pancreas (e.g. after pancreatitis or in cystic fibrosis) Whipple's disease (a very rare bacterial infection) Malabsorption is a typical aftereffect of gastric bypass surgery, though its severity varies depending on the type of bypass Many more