Functional Dyspepsia

Dyspepsia is another word for indigestion. People with chronic indigestion often report feelings of stomach pain, over-fullness and bloating during and after eating. Other common symptoms include acid reflux, heartburn and excessive burping. These symptoms resemble peptic ulcer disease, but when tested, only 1/3 of people will have a stomach ulcer — the other 2/3 will have functional dyspepsia.

A functional disorder is an ongoing problem with your bodily functions that can’t be explained by physical causes. You have symptoms, and doctors can observe those symptoms, but they can’t find any mechanical reason for them. Gastrointestinal diseases are often “functional” rather than structural. Doctors don’t always understand why they occur. It may be that the brain and nerves are involved.

If you have frequent symptoms of indigestion, your healthcare providers will look to see if they can find anything wrong with your GI tract — such as an ulcer or structural problem. If they can’t, they’ll diagnose your condition as simply functional dyspepsia (FD). Sometimes FD is also described as nervous dyspepsia, non-ulcer dyspepsia or pseudo-ulcer syndrome.

How common is functional dyspepsia?

Functional dyspepsia is considered one of the most common functional disorders. Estimates say 10% to 20% of people who seek healthcare for their symptoms may have functional dyspepsia. But because many people never seek healthcare for their symptoms, the number of those who have it might be much higher than we know.