Food Rumination Syndrome

Rumination syndrome is a condition in which people repeatedly and unintentionally spit up (regurgitate) undigested or partially digested food from the stomach, rechew it, and then either reswallow it or spit it out. Because the food hasn’t yet been digested, it reportedly tastes normal and isn’t acidic, as vomit is.

 

Cluster Number:
Wiki Number: PW190
Diagnosis: (Food) Rumination Syndrome
US Patients: 10% of institutionalized infant or child mental disabilities
World Patients:
Sex Ratio: B;G+
Age Onset: Age 11, boys; age 14, for girls.
Brain Area: This appears to be involuntary, not consciously caused by the person.
Symptoms: in children and those with cognitive disabilities, regular regurgitation of meals by involuntary contraction of abdominal muscles
Progression: Unlike normal vomit, the process is normal and unforced. Damage to the esophagus and alimentary canal, malnutrition, weight loss
Causes: Undecided.
Medications:
Therapies: For children or limited intelligence, a sour or bitter taste on the tongue is aversion training. Abdominal breathing helps others.

Youtube Video: Living With Rumination (Regurgitation) Disorder

Youtube Video:

Teen Unable to Digest His Food

Amazon or Library (Kindle Only):

A Simple Guide to Rumination Syndrome

Click the book to link or order form Amazon.
This book is “Kindle-Only.”

Support Group: nationaleatingdisorders.org; 800-930-2237

(National Eating Disorders Association)

4 CURRENT ARTICLES
FROM PUBMED

The world-wide medical research
reports chosen for each diagnosis 

Clicking each title opens the
PubMed article’s summary-abstract.

  • Difficulties in Emotion Regulation in Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder
    by Casey M Stern on September 2, 2024

    OBJECTIVE: Despite substantial research indicating difficulties with emotion regulation across eating disorder presentations, emotion regulation has yet to be studied in adults with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). We hypothesized that (1) those with ARFID would report greater overall emotion regulation difficulties than nonclinical participants, and (2) those with ARFID would not differ from those with other eating disorders on the level of emotion regulation difficulty.

  • Trajectory of ghrelin and PYY around a test meal in males and females with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder versus healthy controls
    by Kaitlin N Rozzell-Voss on June 19, 2024

    Disruptions in appetite-regulating hormones may contribute to the development and/or maintenance of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). No study has previously assessed fasting levels of orexigenic ghrelin or anorexigenic peptide YY (PYY), nor their trajectory in response to food intake among youth with ARFID across the weight spectrum. We measured fasting and postprandial (30, 60, 120 minutes post-meal) levels of ghrelin and PYY among 127 males and females with full and...

  • When symptoms are more than reflux
    by Laura García Pravia on May 22, 2024

    45 year-old male patient with history of heartburn and regurgitation of non-acid food in the immediate postprandial period, with no symptomatic improvement after anti-acid treatment. The patient underwent an upper endoscopy that was unremarkable. A high-resolution impedance manometry (HRIM) was performed according to Chicago Protocol 4.0, as well as an additional solid test meal, with findings of rumination syndrome (RS) (figure 1). The study was completed with a 24-hour impedance pH monitoring...

  • Current state of rumination syndrome
    by Sydney Pomenti on May 14, 2024

    Rumination syndrome (RS) is an underdiagnosed behavioral disorder of recurrent regurgitation. Regurgitation occurs in RS due to increased gastric pressure achieved by subconscious contraction of the abdominal musculature wall, reversing the pressure gradient between the esophagus and the stomach. RS is mainly diagnosed clinically by the Rome Criteria with symptoms of regurgitation without retching of recently ingested food into the mouth and subsequent spitting or re-mastication. When the...