Vomit Topics

• causes of vomiting
• nausea and vomiting
• dry heaves
• fecal vomiting
• brain tumors
• abdominal muscles
• coffee grounds
• chloride levels
• intravenous fluid
• antiemetics
• vomitus
• intestinal obstruction
• undigested food
• emesis
• regurgitation
• fresh blood
• miserere
• endorphins
• fistula
• warning sign

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Undesired vomiting may result from many causes, ranging from gastritis or poisoning to brain tumors, or elevated intracranial pressure. The feeling that one is about to vomit is called nausea. It usually precedes, but does not always lead to vomiting. Antiemetics are sometimes necessary to suppress nausea and vomiting, and, in severe cases where dehydration develops, intravenous fluid may need to be administered to replace fluid volume.

Regurgitation is the return of undigested food back up the esophagus to the mouth, without the force and displeasure associated with vomiting. The causes of vomiting and regurgitation are generally different.

For people not in the habit of exercising the abdominal muscles, they may be painful for the next few days. The relief of pressure and the release of endorphins into the bloodstream after the expulsion causes the vomiter to feel better. Often this feeling is only temporary, however.

Recent food intake will be reflected in the gastric vomit. Irrespective of the content, vomit tends to be malodorous.

Fresh blood in the vomit is termed hematemesis ("blood vomiting"). Altered blood bears resemblance to coffee grounds (as the iron in the blood is oxidized) and, when this matter is identified, the term "coffee ground vomiting" is used. Bile can enter the vomit during subsequent heaves due to duodenal contraction if the vomiting is severe. Fecal vomiting is often a consequence of intestinal obstruction or a gastrocolic fistula and is treated as a warning sign of this potentially serious problem ("signum mali ominis"); such vomiting is sometimes called "miserere." If the vomiting reflex continues for an extended period with no appreciable vomitus, the condition is known as non-productive emesis or dry heaves , which can be painful and debilitating.

Gastric vomiting leads to the loss of acid (protons) and chlorine directly. Combined with the resulting alkaline tide, this leads to hypochloremic metabolic alkalosis (low chloride levels together with high HCO 3 and CO 2 and increased blood pH) and often hypokalemia (potassium depletion). The hypokalemia is an indirect result of the kidney compensating for the loss of acid. With the loss of intake of food the individual may eventually become cachectic. A less frequent occurrence results from a vomiting of intestinal contents, including bile acids and HCO 3 - which can lead to metabolic acidosis.

This may become apparent if fresh red blood is mixed with vomit after several episodes.

Though it is not actual fecal matter that is expelled, it smells similar. Alternative medical terms for fecal vomiting are copremesis and stercoraceous vomiting.

It is believed that this is an evolved trait among primates. Many primates in the wild will tend to browse for food in small groups. Should one member of the party react adversely to some ingested food, it may be advantageous (in a survival sense) for other members of the party also to vomit. This tendency in human populations has been observed at drinking parties, where excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages may result in a number of party members vomiting nearly simultaneously, this being triggered by the initial vomiting of a single member of the party. This phenomenon has been touched on in popular culture: Notorious instances appear in the films Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) and Stand By Me (1986), while, in the computer game Theme Hospital, it is referred to as a 'vomit wave' and can spread through the hospital quickly.

On airplanes and boats, special bags are supplied for sick passengers to vomit into. A special disposable bag containing absorbent material that solidifies the vomit quickly is available, also, making it convenient and safe to keep (leakproof, puncture-resistant, odorless) until there is an opportunity to dispose of it conveniently.

Source: Wikipedia > Vomiting