Gastric Ulcers

What Are Gastric Ulcers?

Gastric ulcers are raw, eroded areas in the lining of the stomach. Gastric ulcers occur when stomach acids and digestive juices injure the stomach’s lining of protective mucus. In the most serious cases, gastric ulcers may damage stomach enough to cause a perforation, which is a hole in the stomach lining. Scarring from gastric ulcers may also cause a blockage that obstructs passage of food through the gastrointestinal tract.

Gastric ulcers are not the same thing as duodenal ulcers, which occur in the duodenum (the beginning of the small intestine just below the stomach). However, both gastric ulcers are considered to be peptic ulcers. A peptic ulcer is a name for any ulcer that occurs in the stomach, the duodenum or the esophagus.

At any given time, one person in fifty in the United States is likely to have a active peptic ulcer. As many as one person in every ten will have an ulcer problem sometime during their life.

Approximately half a million new peptic ulcer cases are diagnosed every year in the U.S. Of these, about 15 percent are gastric ulcers.

Males between the ages of 55 and 70 are most likely to have gastric ulcers.

Causes of gastric ulcers

The most common causes of gastric ulcers are as follows.

There is a certain type of bacteria known as Helicobacter pylori present in the stomach. This bacteria, which is also known as H pylori, reduces the resistance of the stomach lining to stomach acid. Too much stomach acid can eat away the lining of the stomach and even cause a hole known as a perforation.

Frequent or excessive use of certain kinds of anti-inflammatory medications, including aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen may lead to a gastric ulcer.

Ulcers may result from poor dietary habits and lifestyle factors such as drinking too much alcohol, smoking, and excessive high caffeine.

It's commonly believed that prolonged stress can cause a gastric ulcer. But recent research indicates that the stress itself isn't the cause. Rather, people who are under a lot of stress don't often eat well, drink too much alcohol and caffeine, use tobacco, and lead generally unhealthy lives.

Gastric ulcer symptoms

The initial symptoms of gastrics ulcer include

• discomfort from indigestion and heartburn,
• nausea,
• loss of appetite,
• unexplained weight loss, and
• unusual fatigue

You should call a doctor immediately if

• you notice bloody or dark, tarry stools,
• you have a rigid, hard abdomen that is tender to touch,
• you experience symptoms of shock such as fainting, excessive sweating, or confusion,
• you experience vomiting with evidence of blood.

Treatment

Gastric ulcers can often be controlled with drugs that limit or reduce the production of stomach acid.

It's also important to reduce the amount of H. pylori bacteria in the stomach if it is present. This is usually accomplished with a combination of tetracycline, bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto-Bismol), and metronidazole (Metizol).

Sometimes surgery is necessary if there are complications like a gastrointestinal blockage, or if a perforation has occurred.

It's important to follow your doctor's instructions carefully after you've had a gastric ulcer. If you don't, there's an eighty percent chance the ulcer will reoccur within one year.

You can learn more by clicking on stomach ulcers, types of stomach ulcers, peptic ulcers, bleeding ulcers and duodenal ulcers.