What is Vomiting and How It Affects Us?

Some call it puke and others thow-up. There are many other names for vomiting and almost all of us have suffered from it one time or the other.

So what exactly is vomiting?

In simple terms vomiting is a forceful expulsion of stomach and intestine contents through the mouth. The contents from the stomach travl up towards the esophagus and fianlly get expelled though the mouth. It primarily occurs due to certain gastrointestinal conditions however some other causes of vomiting include many other serious conditios also. Regardless of its cause vomiting can have some serious concequences such as acid-base derangments, volume and electrolyte depletion, malnutrition and aspiration pneumonia.

Vomiting usually occurs in three steps. The frist steps is nausea in most cases. However in some cases nausea may be absent. The second stage is called dry heaves or retaching. During retching there is repeated herniation of the abdominal esophagus and cardia into the thoracic cavity due to the negative pressure engendered by inspiratory efforts with a closed glottis. The final stage is vomiting when the gastric and often small intestinal contents are propelled up to and out of the mouth.

Vomiting occasionally can occur abruptly in the absense of any premonitory signs. This type is called projectile vomiting. Projectile vomiting mainly occurs due to gastric outlet obstruction, which is genrally a result of the ingestion of foreign bodies.

Vomiting the stomach contents may be serious in most circumstances but vomiting of blood can be a sign of serious underlying disease. Contact your doctor immediately if you vomit blood.

Learn more about causes, symptoms, preventive methods and home remedies for vomiting in the following related articles:

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