What Causes Stomach Bloating And Appetite Loss?

Posted on Thu, 9 Oct 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 9 Oct 2014 Answered on

Mon, 3 Nov 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : Hello:

I'm very worried about my 83 year old mother. She's had a lot of weight loss in the last year (also has severe osteoporosis) and vision problems. She had a bad fall in 2010, and after that started to develop constipation, stomach bloating, etc. She's just undergone a colonoscopy and ultrasound, and they found pre-cancerous polyps - very large but they were removed. She had a very high blood (?) count and so they've now ordered a endoscopy. She feels bloating after meals, and some loss of appetite. I went online and saw that those are common symptoms of stomach cancer. I'm so scared, and at 83, she won't be able to handle chemo. Is there anything else it might be? I haven't mentioned this as I don't want to scare her further. Thank you. XXXX

Answered by Dr. Dr Samir Patil (7 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Endoscopy to look for Stomach cancer/ulcer/polyps

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
I have gone through your mothers history and reports.
I aggree with your doctor that she need a upper GI endoscopy.

The reason we need to do an endoscopy is

to look for stomach cancer.

Other disease which could cause similar symptoms are gastric ulcer or gastric polyps which if present will be seen by endoscopy.

It could also be gastroparesis/ dysmotility ( reduced emptying of the stomach) in which case the endoscopy will be normal

Hope this helps
Do get back in case of further queries
Regards
Dr Samir Patil

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad