Dyspepsia articles from across Nature Portfolio

Functional dyspepsia is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder that is characterized by discomfort or pain in the upper abdomen with no apparent organic cause. This PrimeView summarizes the contributing factors, which are multifactorial.

Functional dyspepsia is a functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by discomfort or pain in the upper abdomen (generally associated with food intake) with no apparent underlying organic cause. The three subtypes of functional dyspepsia are postprandial distress syndrome, epigastric pain syndrome and a subtype with mixed features.

In this Review, Van Oudenhove and Aziz provide an overview of epidemiological studies that demonstrate an association between functional dyspepsia and psychological traits, states or psychiatric disorders. They also describe pathophysiological evidence on how psychosocial factors and psychiatric disorders might exert their role in functional dyspepsia.

Symptom-based diagnostic criteria have been criticized for being overly complex and performing modestly in differentiating organic from functional gastrointestinal diseases. The new Rome IV criteria now supersede Rome III. In general, these minor amendments are unlikely to lead to substantial improvement in accuracy and use in routine clinical care. Is a different approach required in future?

A global consensus report on Helicobacter pylori gastritis has been developed. Topics discussed include whether dyspepsia caused by H. pylori infection is separate from functional dyspepsia or not, the evaluation method for H. pylori-induced gastritis, eradication therapy for H. pylori gastritis to prevent gastric carcinogenesis and management after H. pylori eradication.