DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My 52-year-old daughter, who has been healthy all her life, now has gastroparesis. Can you give me some information on this disease? Is it curable? — M.M.

ANSWER: Normally the stomach takes two to four hours to empty. Liquids pass through it even more quickly. The stomach has to grind solid foods to reduce them to small pieces and to soften them so their nutrients and calories can be absorbed. Gastroparesis is a sluggish stomach. “Paresis” means “partial paralysis.” Foods take forever to leave a stomach stricken with gastroparesis. Diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, scleroderma, thyroid troubles and many other conditions are causes of it. For a large number of sufferers, a cause can’t be found. It just happens.

Nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting and a feeling of fullness after only a few bites of food are some of the consequences of gastroparesis.

After an overnight fast, a scope examination of the stomach shows it still to be full of food. Scans can help make the diagnosis. The patient eats food that includes a safe radioactive material. Serial scans show the radioactive material stays in the stomach for an inordinate amount of time.

“Curable” is too strong a word for this condition. Treatable isn’t. If an underlying illness is found as the cause, treatment of that illness usually treats gastroparesis. When no illness is responsible for it, ways to increase the transit of food through the stomach are possible. One is to increase the amount of fluids taken with meals. Decreasing the fat and fiber content of meals is another way to speed the passage of food. Frequent, small meals are another strategy that’s helpful. Metoclopramide (Reglan) often can ease symptoms.

Your daughter ought to take vitamins. People with gastroparesis can develop vitamin deficiencies.

TO READERS: Women will find answers to their questions on fibroids in the booklet on that topic. To order a copy, write: Dr. Donohue — No. 1106, Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Enclose a check or money order (no cash) for $4.75 U.S./$6 Can. with the recipient’s printed name and address. Please allow four weeks for delivery.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Do you have anything on fatty liver? My doctor told me that I have a fatty liver. — M.K.

ANSWER: Alcohol is one big cause for fat to infiltrate the liver. Fat also can be found in the livers of people who never touch a drop of alcohol. That condition is nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, NAFLD, and it’s quite common. NAFLD can progress to NASH, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a serious condition. It’s an inflammation of liver cells and can result in liver cell death. The dead cells lead to liver cirrhosis.

Many NAFLD people are overweight. If these people lose weight, their livers lose their fat. Sometimes NAFLD goes hand in hand with conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, high blood cholesterol or high blood triglycerides. Treating those problems also rids the liver of fat.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am a 78-year-old man who’s been hiccupping for a long time. My doctor prescribed two medicines that are not helping. The hiccupping makes it hard to fall asleep. Can you provide any information on the kind of doctor who handles this, or can you recommend any medicines? — R.G.

ANSWER: Hiccups come from contractions of the diaphragm — the principal breathing muscle, the muscle that separates the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity. Causes of persistent hiccups include irritation of the phrenic nerve (the nerve serving the diaphragm), tumors, liver and kidney diseases, and diabetes. Frankly these conditions are rarely found. A gastroenterologist is the doctor to see for long-lasting hiccups.

Chlorpromazine is a medicine given either orally or intravenously that often puts an end to hiccups. The intravenous route is more effective. Spraying the throat with lidocaine, a numbing agent, is an accepted treatment. Neurontin and Lyrica are two medicines employed for stopping persistent hiccups. More involved procedures are inducing deep sleep through general anesthesia and taking the phrenic nerve out of commission in many ways.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com.

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