EOSINOPHILIC GASTROENTERITIS: or ALLERGIC EOSINOPHILIC GASTROENTERITIS:
The definition below was copied from the internet. My comments are added in red.
Clinical:
Eosinophilic gastroenteritis is an uncommon condition (not that uncommon) that affects children and young adults (and people of all ages, I'm 40and got it at age 21). The condition may be related to an allergic or immunologic cause as symptoms tend to follow ingestion of certain foods and affected patients tend to have history of food allergy (I never had an allergic symptom in my life until I was 21). In this condition there is extensive infiltration of one or all layers (mucosa, submucosa, muscular layers, and serosa) of the stomach and/or small bowel by eosinophils. (it can spread to other areas like the esophaghus(EE) or other organs) Symptoms include epigastric pain, vomiting, and diarrhea (bloating, nausea etc). Patients also develop a protein losing enteropathy due to increased mucosal permeability which results in hypoalbuminemia and hypo-gammaglobulinemia (this caused weight loss too). Peripheral eosinophilia is found in 60% of cases. The disease is generally self-limited with spontaneous remission (I had remission twice, since then I have worsened). Treatment consists of steroids and removal of sensitizing agent. (More recently Xolair, Anti-IL-5 and other modern medications are being used to treat this and similar conditions)
X-ray:
On UGI acutely there are diffusely enlarged folds, typically limited to the distal stomach, but the duodenum and small bowel are also involved in 50% of cases. There is a characteristic 'saw tooth' appearance to the small bowel, especially the jejunum. The bowel is typically rigid, but returns to normal following therapy. Multiple nodules may be seen if there is predominantly submucosal infiltration. Chronically, the antrum becomes contracted with a cobblestone appearance. There is a narrowed, nodular pylorus and antrum (distal stomach) with duodenal extension. On CT, there is thickening and nodularity to the folds of the stomach and proximal small bowel.
REFERENCES:
(1) AJR 1998; Horton KM, et al. Uncommon inflammatory diseases of the
small bowel: CT findings. 170: 385-88
EG is a reaction of a certain type of your bodies white blood cells to attack the tissue or lining of the stomach, digestive system (kind of like athsma in the lungs) as if reacting to some foreign allergen. This can cause different reactions in different patients causing swelling and irritation of the digestive tract and even affecting the esophagus and mouth. It can be triggered by foods, chemicals, and many other substances. Some people even react to such substances as meat proteins, which is fine only if you are a vegetarian.
Corticosteroids work very well on EG because it is a type of allergic reaction. Corticosteroids shut down the bodies ability to attack allergens. So you are only treating the symptom. Corticosteroids also have very bad side effects themselves.
Personally I think that EG is simply a name the medical community has come up with for allergies they can not identify or treat. It is a name for something they do not understand. It is also possible that it is a direct relation to environmental polution or over use of antibiotics.
The NIH is looking for candidates for the Xolair study. Here are the related links