Signs and Symptoms
Symptoms of absorption disorders depend on which nutrient or nutrients are being malabsorbed. Common symptoms include the following:
- Abdominal pain and cramps
- Bloating
- Chronic diarrhea (frequent bowel movements and passage of light-colored, soft, and foul-smelling stool [called steatorrhea, pronounced stē ă-tō-rē ă])
- Excessive gas in the GI tract (e.g., flatulence)
- Failure to thrive and delayed puberty (in children)
- GI bleeding (i.e., blood in the stool)
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Weight loss
Over time, absorption disorders can cause vitamin and mineral deficiencies (e.g., vitamin B12 deficiency, iron deficiency) and can result in serious complications such as severe anemia, bone loss, dehydration, and malnutrition.
Physician-developed and -monitored.
Original Date of Publication: 13 Mar 2008
Reviewed by: Stanley J. Swierzewski, III, M.D.
Last Reviewed: 12 Mar 2008
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