Gastroenterological Disease Symptoms Symptoms that may require investigation for gastroenterological disease include: • Abdominal pain • Heartburn • Reflux of acid, water or food into the throat • Chronic cough from refluxed gastric acid • Bloated sensation in the abdomen • Distension or swelling of the abdomen • Difficulty in swallowing • Painful swallowing • Constipation • Diarrhoea • Change of bowel habit or pattern from the usual • Black stools (which may indicate altered blood from bleeding) • Coffee-ground-like substances vomited (which may indicate altered blood being vomited) • Fresh blood vomited • Fresh blood passed from the rectum • Loss of appetite • Loss of weight • General un-wellness or lethargy • Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of eyes) • Dark coloured urine • Pale coloured stools • Triad of jaundice, abdominal pain and fever (gallstone obstruction with infection) Also check out : Gastroenterologist in London In addition, if there is a family history of some potentially genetically transmissible gastrointestinal disorders such as polyps or cancer of the stomach and colon, it may be beneficial for relatives to be screened. The closer the relationship and the younger the relative when diagnosed, the more important it is to be screened. Abnormal results in health screening tests may require further investigations to check for gastrointestinal diseases. These tests include: • Positive faecal occult blood (microscopic blood found in the stools) • Anaemia (lack of the red blood pigment haemoglobin) • Abnormal levels of cancer markers in the blood • Abnormal features on x-ray, barium or ultrasound examinations