Diagnosing stomach issues with breath and motility

Forty percent of Americans suffer from gastrointestinal diseases, such as nausea, fecal incontinence, and IBS.

Lateara White knows the feeling. She spent a whole year throwing up every single night.

“I would vomit at least five times out the week, at night,” said White, “I would always get it at night.”

That’s when she turned to a new breath and motility center at Mercy Medical Center.

In this digestive clinic, patients breathe into a bag, and their breath gasses are then tested for food intolerance and malabsorption, which analyzes how food moves through the digestive system.

“People with motility problems, like gastroparesis, where the stomach is not doing that process efficiently, the food will actually sit in the stomach for hours or even days at a time,” said White.

But White was diagnosed with gastroparesis, leaving her feeling like she’d just eaten when she hadn’t.

“Even though I’m hungry, I still felt full. I couldn’t eat a whole meal,” said White.

Finally, the breath’s concentration of hydrogen and methane gas provides insight into any common sugar intolerance.

“I have a dietician that works directly with me, and a lot of times, the first step is to have somebody objectively look at your diet and identify potential trouble spots,” said White.

White did that and finally found the relief she’d been searching for for more than a year.

If you have unexplained chronic gastrointestinal symptoms such as constipation, nausea, diarrhea, and heartburn, it may be time to consider a motility disorder.