Still it is not clear, which leads to gastroparesis. However, in most cases, the cause is damage to the vagus nerves that controls the stomach muscles.
The vagus nerve manages the complex digestive tract processes; this includes trigger the stomach muscles to contract and push food into the small intestine. Any damage to this nerve can disturb your stomach muscles function, causing the food to stay longer in your stomach than usual. The conditions that damage the vagus nerve are considering as the cause of gastroparesis.
Causes of gastroparesis
Some of the causes of gastroparesis are:
- Diabetes mellitus - or simply diabetes, is a condition in which a person has high blood sugar.
- Hypothyroidism – is a malfunctioning of thyroid, specifically insufficient functioning (hypothyroidism) of the thyroid.
- Neurological disease - is any disorder of the body's nervous system may be structural, biochemical or electrical abnormalities within the brain, spinal cord or other nerves.
- Parkinson's disease – is a progressive chronic disorder of the central nervous system marked by tremor, muscular rigidity, and slow, imprecise movement.
- Multiple sclerosis - is an inflammatory disease marked by destruction of the myelin surround and insulate nerve fibers, which causes spastic weakness in one or more limbs, local sensory losses, bladder dysfunction, or visual disturbances.
- Gastric or bariatric surgery - or weight-loss surgery, is a type of procedure performed on people who are obese by reducing the size of the stomach with a gastric-band or through removal of a portion of the stomach.
- Autoimmune diseases - is a disease characterized by abnormal functioning of the immune system that causes your immune system to produce antibodies against your own tissues.
- Medication-induced delay in gastric emptying - is due to the use of narcotic, anticholinergic agents, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and amylin analogs.
- An early symptom indicating the onset of a viral illness may lead to gastroparesis (post-viral gastroparesis).
- Amyloidosis – is a condition with deposits of protein fibers in tissues and organs.
- Certain cancer treatments - such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery may trigger gastroparesis.
- Anorexia nervosa - is an eating disorder characterized by immoderate food restriction and irrational fear of gaining weight.
- Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by uncontrollable eating followed by an attempt to rid oneself of the food consumed (purging), typically by vomiting, taking a laxative or diuretic, and/or excessive exercise.
- Scleroderma is a connective tissue disease that involves changes in the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs.