Vomiting may be due to a large number of causes, and protracted vomiting has a long differential diagnosis.
Digestive tract
- Causes in the digestive tract
- Gastritis (inflammation of the gastric wall, usually by viruses)
- Gastroenteritis
- Pyloric stenosis (in babies, this typically causes a very forceful "projectile vomiting" and is an indication for urgent surgery)
- Bowel obstruction
- Overeating
- Acute abdomen and/or peritonitis
- Ileus
- Food allergies (often in conjunction with hives or swelling)
- Cholecystitis, pancreatitis, appendicitis, hepatitis
- Food poisoning
- In children, it can be caused by an allergic reaction to cow's milk proteins (Milk allergy or lactose intolerance)
Sensory system and brain
- Causes in the sensory system
- Movement: motion sickness (which is caused by overstimulation of the labyrinthine canals of the ear)
- Ménière's disease
- Causes in the brain
- Metabolic disturbances (these may irritate both the stomach and the parts of the brain that coordinate vomiting)
- Pregnancy
- Hyperemesis, Morning sickness
- Drug reaction (vomiting may occur as an acute somatic response to)
- Illness
Miscellanea
- Self-induced
- Eating disorders (anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa)
- To eliminate an ingested poison (some poisons should not be vomited as they may be more toxic when inhaled or aspirated; it is better to ask for help before inducing vomiting)
- Some people who are engaged in binge drinking will induce vomiting in order to make room in their stomachs for further alcohol consumption.
- After surgery (postoperative nausea and vomiting)
- Disagreeable sights, smells or thoughts (such as decayed matter, others' vomit, thinking of vomiting), etc.
- Extreme pain, such as intense headache or myocardial infarction (heart attack)
- Violent emotions
- Cyclic vomiting syndrome (a poorly-understood condition with attacks of vomiting)
- High doses of ionizing radiation will sometimes trigger a vomit reflex in the victim
- Violent fits of coughing, hiccups, or asthma
- Nervousness
- Performing physical activity (such as swimming) shortly after a meal.
- Being struck hard in the stomach.
- Overexertion (doing too much strenuous exercise can lead to vomiting shortly afterwards).
- Rumination syndrome, an underdiagnosed and poorly understood disorder that causes sufferers to regurgitate food shortly after ingestion.
Further Reading
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article on
"Vomiting"
All material adapted used from Wikipedia is available under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Wikipedia® itself is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.