Stomach rumble

Stomach rumble
Other names	borborygmus
A doctor listening to a patient's bowel sounds using a stethoscope applied to the patient's abdomen
Specialty	Gastroenterology

A stomach rumble, also known as a bowel sound, peristaltic sound, abdominal sound, bubble gut or borborygmus (pronounced

Etymology

The scientific name borborygmus is related to the 16th-century French word borborygme, itself from Latin, ultimately from Ancient Greek βορβορυγμός (borborygmós). The Greek term is probably

Other causes

Other causes of stomach rumbles:

• Incomplete digestion of food can lead to excess gas in the intestine. In humans, this can be due to incomplete digestion of carbohydrate-containing foods, including milk and other dairy products (
  coeliac sprue.^[1]
• Louder rumbles may occur when the individual is hungry. The sound of air moving around the lumen of the stomach is amplified by the empty space. Around two hours after the stomach has been emptied, it sends signals to the brain, which tells the digestive muscles to restart peristalsis in a wave called the migrating motor complex. Food left behind after the first cycle is swept up, and the vibrations of the empty stomach cause hunger. Appetite plays a big role in this situation. Peristalsis recurs about every hour, and one's appetite may cause 10- to 20-minute food cravings.^{[citation needed]}
• Stomach rumbles can form further along the
  gastrointestinal system when air is swallowed while talking, eating, and drinking. This phenomenon occurs in most people and is typical.^[2]

• Celiac disease is a condition that prevents the small intestine from absorbing parts of food that are needed to stay healthy. Consuming food containing gluten is dangerous for people with this disease: Intestinal villi help to absorb nutrients from food, but when gluten is consumed, the immune system attacks these villi as a result. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, nausea, and bulky or foul smelling stools.^[3]
• pseudomembranous colitis. The usual causes of colitis are infection and lack of blood flow. Symptoms may include bloody stools, chills, dehydration, diarrhea, and fever.^[4]
• Diverticulitis is a condition where small bulging sacs, usually found in the large intestine, become inflamed or infected. The most probable cause is a low-fiber diet, possibly a result of eating processed food. Diverticulitis is usually seen in about half the American population over the age of 60. Symptoms may include bloating, fever, and nausea.^[5]
• abdominal pain and diarrhea
  . It is more common in women and it usually occurs during early adulthood. There are many risk factors such as emotional stress and a low-fiber diet. These can all cause stomach disorders.

The word borborygmic has been used in literature to describe noisy plumbing. In Ada, Vladimir Nabokov wrote: "All the toilets and waterpipes in the house had been suddenly seized with borborygmic convulsions". In A Long Way Down (New York: Harper, 1959, p. 54), Elizabeth Fenwick wrote: "The room was very quiet, except for its borborygmic old radiator".^[6] Graham Greene's short story "Alas, Poor Maling" tells the tale of a luckless individual whose borborygmus takes the form of irritating noises that he has recently heard.

The word borborygmus has also been used in journalism to describe political turbulence. In an article in The Atlantic, Graeme Wood^[7] used the word to describe the effects of mass refugee migration into Europe: "Central Europe had to digest a massive refugee flow from Syria and Afghanistan, and the resulting borborygmus upended European politics and enabled a populist wave that has yet to crest."

See also

• Flatulence
• Ileus
• Migrating motor complex

References