#stomach

• Abt Frantz — The traditional popular and pharmaceutical name (originating from the Germanic area as 'Abbe Franz') for a tonic gastric tincture or elixir, historically used as a stomachic remedy to stimulate digestion, combat flatulence, and soothe abdominal spasms. Its formula was based on hydroalcoholic extracts of bitter and aromatic herbs, being a common preparation in Transylvanian and Central European pharmacies until the mid-20th century.
• Aerophagia — A functional digestive disorder characterized by the involuntary and excessive swallowing of air during eating, speaking, or during periods of high anxiety, leading to gas buildup in the stomach, a feeling of fullness, frequent eructations, abdominal meteorism, and gastric discomfort.
• Aerogastria — A digestive disorder consisting of the presence or excessive accumulation of air or gases inside the stomach cavity, causing gastric distension, a feeling of abdominal fullness, discomfort, and frequent eructations. This condition is most often a direct consequence of aerophagia or abnormal chemical fermentation processes.
• Agastria — A rare pathological term or archaic medical word designating the complete, congenital, or surgical absence of the stomach (agastria); by extension, a functional or structural state in which gastric secretion and stomach-level digestion are completely halted. Clinically, the term reflects a severe anatomical anomaly requiring major therapeutic and nutritional restructurings of the digestive tract.
• Agastria — An extremely rare congenital malformation consisting of the total absence of the stomach from birth; by extension, the anatomical and clinical state resulting from a total gastrectomy (complete surgical removal of the organ). Structurally, this condition disrupts the normal digestive pathway, requiring a surgical restructuring of the tract by directly connecting the esophagus to the jejunum (esophagojejunostomy) and a strict nutritional regimen.
• Fasted — Having fasted (completely or restrictively) on the eve of a holiday; a person who has abstained from food and drink according to religious ordinances. In a broad and regional sense, the term can also describe the state of someone who has not yet eaten anything since morning (on an empty stomach), being prepared for Holy Communion, medical tests, or traditional rituals.
• Anacidity — The pathological or total absence of hydrochloric acid from the gastric juice secretion, structurally settled at the level of the stomach mucosa. This clinical phenomenon, often correlated with severe gastric gland atrophy or pernicious anemia, severely disrupts the normal protein digestion process and promotes the growth of abnormal bacterial flora in the upper digestive tract.
• Achlorhydria — The complete pathological absence of free hydrochloric acid from the gastric juice secretion, even after maximal stimulation with specific substances; it represents an advanced form of structural anacidity caused by the destruction of parietal cells in the stomach mucosa. This clinical condition is closely linked to severe chronic atrophic gastritis, pernicious anemia, and can increase the risk of gastric neoplasms due to the drastic alteration of the local pH.
• Antinoacid — A chemical substance, pharmaceutical preparation, or biological compound capable of reducing, neutralizing, or inhibiting the excessive secretion of hydrochloric acid in gastric juice; a therapeutic agent used to alleviate symptoms of hyperacidity, heartburn, and esophageal discomfort associated with gastritis or gastroesophageal reflux disease.
• Antipepsin — An antibody, specific antibody, or biological substance with an inhibitory role that neutralizes the enzymatic activity of pepsin to digest proteins. This structural factor protects the gastric mucosa from self-digestion and is used in clinical research to study homeostatic mechanisms within the stomach.
• Anti-ulcer — Preventing, combating, mitigating, or healing gastric or duodenal ulcers; a medication or active biochemical agent (such as proton pump inhibitors or H2 receptor antagonists) administered to reduce hydrochloric acid hypersecretion in the stomach, protect the digestive mucosa, and promote the healing of ulcerative lesions.
• Antropylorectomy — A major surgical intervention consisting of the partial or total excision of the lower stomach region, including both the gastric antrum and the pylorus (the muscular sphincter leading to the duodenum). This specialized surgical procedure is urgently performed in severe cases of infiltrative gastric neoplasm, refractory gastric ulcers complicated by tight pyloric stenosis, or massive perforations.
• Antropyloritis — An acute or chronic inflammatory condition of the gastric mucosa, localized simultaneously within the gastric antrum and the pylorus. This specific form of distal gastritis is frequently triggered by chronic Helicobacter pylori infection or alkaline bile reflux, causing symptoms such as postprandial epigastric pain, nausea, bloating, and disruptions in normal gastric emptying.
• Antrum — A natural anatomical cavity or chamber, located within a bone or a hollow organ; most commonly used to designate the lower portion of the stomach (pyloric antrum), the maxillary sinus (antrum of Highmore), or the cavity within the temporal bone (mastoid antrum), playing an essential role in storage, secretion, or fluid drainage.
• Digestive system — A complex assembly of structurally and functionally correlated organs (oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, intestines, liver, and pancreas) responsible for the ingestion, fragmentation, digestion of food, absorption of essential nutrients, and elimination of unassimilable residues. This macroscopic system guarantees the energy supply of the entire organism through the chemical and mechanical transformation of nutrients.
• Apeptic — Suffering from apepsia or relating to the total absence of pepsin secretion and proper gastric digestion; characterized by the lack of proteolytic enzymes in the gastric juice. This term describes a severe dysfunctional state of the stomach mucosa, being closely linked to profound atrophic gastritis.
• Apeptic — Relating to apepsia or characterized by the absence of pepsin and normal gastric fermentation; regarded as a semantic and etymological variant for 'apepsic'. It describes a faulty functional state in which the gastric juice loses its acidic and proteolytic properties necessary for the first stage of digestion.