What is Neurogastroenterology?

If you have been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), or some other functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID), you probably already know that gastroenterology is the branch of medicine that focuses on the human digestive system. However, you may be less familiar with neurogastroenterology, a subspecialty of gastroenterology overlapping with neurology, which focuses on the brain, spinal cord, and the peripheral nerve.

Read on to learn more about neurogastroenterology and how it is helping those suffering from digestive disorders.

What Role Does a Neurogastroenterologist Play in Digestive Disorders?

A neurogastroenterologist is a gastroenterologist with a background and scientific interest in the mechanisms within the human body involved in functional gastrointestinal disorders and inflammatory bowel disease. Because these mechanisms contain nerve cells that play a significant role in digestive function, the "neuro" in front of the "gastroenterologist" reflects a particular interest in that role.

The body has an enteric nervous system composed of neurons functioning independently from our central nervous system. This nervous system, also known as the intrinsic nervous system, is a division of our autonomic nervous system, which regulates involuntary bodily function. It comprises a group of neurons governing the body's gastrointestinal tract. However, neurogastroenterology goes well beyond a collection of nerve cells.

A neurogastroenterologist considers the brain, the spinal cord, and other specific aspects of your nervous system as they relate to your digestive function. Neurogastroenterology also considers genetics, environmental factors, microbiology, nutrition, immune systems, and inflammation related to digestive disorders.

To be certified in neurogastroenterology, gastroenterologists must complete special training.

Understanding Neurogastroenterology

Neurogastroenterology is the neurology of our body's gastrointestinal tract, gallbladder, liver, and pancreas, encompassing the study of digestion control through our nervous systems. As neurogastroenterology has developed as a legitimate subspecialty in gastroenterology, it has focused on diseases where some disordered interaction occurs between the body's gastrointestinal system and nervous system.

Simply put, neurogastroenterology concerns diseases and disorders of the "brain of our gut," or, as noted above, the body's enteric nervous system. Our enteric nervous system controls gastrointestinal motility, secretions of endocrines, and microcirculation. Normal movement through our body's gastrointestinal system requires balanced interactions between the body's various nervous systems.

Autonomic nervous system disorders affecting our gastrointestinal system typically manifest as motility disturbances. Several common gastrointestinal disorders, once thought to be functional disorders, are now considered enteric nervous system disorders.

When no abnormal process, either physical or metabolic, accounts for a patient's symptoms, neurogastroenterology calls these conditions "functional gastrointestinal disorders." IBS is one of the most common functional gastrointestinal disorders that neurogastroenterologists treat.

As neurogastroenterology has taken root, concepts continue to emerge linking dysfunctions at nervous system levels to underlying causes of some of the most prominent functional gastrointestinal disorder symptoms. A neurogastroenterologist will consider the psychiatric and psychological aspects of such disorders because they can play a role in associated pain and discomfort within your digestive tract and have a clear connection to gastrointestinal disorders induced by stress.

This History of Neurogastroenterology

The concepts behind neurogastroenterology are nothing new. In fact, the relationship that exists between our brains and our guts has long been an established part of medical studies.

During the 19th Century, Dr. William Beumont, the father of gastric physiology, observed a correlation between anger, fear and other nervous system disturbances and symptoms in patients suffering from gastrointestinal fistula. Then, in 1902, American psychiatrist Walter Bradford Cannon was able to document changes in intestinal flow in cats when confronted with growling dogs, thus opening the door to widespread acceptance of stress-induced fluctuations of intestinal motility.

Although Harald Hirschsprung described congenital megacolon (Hirschsprung's disease), it took 60 years for scientists to link it to missing nerve cells in the colon. James Parkinson even described constipation and dysphagia as symptoms of Parkinson's disease

While plenty of clinical neurologists recognized links between neurologic disorders and problems in gastrointestinal systems throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries, there was no basic research to identify the body's basic information transfer between our guts and our brains. By the 1940s to 1950s, researchers described neurological disorders as secondary to any gastrointestinal disorder. These studies mainly focused on nutritional deficiency disorders in the central nervous system.

It wasn't until the late 1970s that researchers truly began to understand the direct correlation, and the science of neurogastroenterology was born.

Neurogastroenterology and the Relationship Between Our Guts and Our Brains

There is a genuine connection between our guts and our brains. That connection can link stomach problems with anxiety and anxiety with stomach problems.

From gut-wrenching experiences and situations that make you experience nausea to feeling butterflies in the stomach, our gastrointestinal tract remains sensitive to our emotions. Elation, sadness, anxiety, and anger are just a few feelings that can trigger gut issues because our brain directly affects our intestines and stomach. Just the thought of a meal can release stomach juices before we even eat.

Of course, this connection exists in either direction. So, for example, troubled intestines will send messages to our brain, just as the troubled brain will send messages to our gut. As a result, a patient with gastrointestinal distress can either cause or be the result of depression, anxiety, or stress.

That's because our brains and gastrointestinal system are intrinsically connected. Therefore, neurogastroenterology is especially useful in cases where the patient is experiencing gastrointestinal problems when no apparent physical cause is present.

If you suffer from a functional gastrointestinal disorder and have questions about neurogastroenterology and how a neurogastroenterologist may benefit you, contact the professionally trained gastroenterologist Miami experts at GastroMed.

GastroMed is South Florida's premier gastro care group, specializing in diagnosing and treating all gastrointestinal and digestive system conditions. Our board-certified physicians have extensive experience in comprehensive gastroenterology care. We offer -depth analysis and evaluation to determine the cause of underlying symptoms, followed by patient-centered care tailored to the individual patient's specific needs.

With nine locations throughout South Florida, GastroMed has an office convenient to you. So, contact us today to book an appointment.