PREVENTION AND HEALTH: ULCERS
Posted on April 23, 2009, under General health.
What are they?
An ulcer is any naturally occurring break in a lining surface of the body. Ulcers can, for example, occur in the mouth, on the skin, in the vagina and in the gastro-intestinal system. Peptic ulcers get their name from the digestive enzyme called pepsin which is found in the stomach. A combination of pepsin and gastric acid erodes the lining of the stomach or duodenum (the part of the intestine immediately after the stomach) to produce an ulcer. In hiatus hernia and gastro-oesophageal reflux these substances produce an ulceration of the lower end of the oesophagus (gullet) where food enters the stomach.
We all have acid in our stomach and some have more than others. There is a general tendency for those who produce more acid (whether this is inherited or in response to life’s stresses) to be more likely to have ulcers.
About one in ten westerners will have peptic ulcers at some time in their lives-usually during middle age. Duodenal ulcers are about four times as common as gastric (stomach) ulcers and men are affected more than women. For some unknown reason duodenal ulcers are becoming much less common than they were twenty or thirty years go. A high proportion of duodenal ulcer patients are of blood group Î and close relatives of these patients are more likely to have an ulcer than are others.
The most common symptom of duodenal ulcer is a gnawing pain, usually in the middle to upper abdomen. The pains come on 1-3 hours after a meal and some sufferers wake every night at about 2 or 3 a.m. with their pain.
Most ulcers heal themselves but treatment with simple antacids, newer gastric-acid blocking medications or even surgery may be needed.
Gastric ulcers are less well-defined in their symptoms.
What causes them?
• Heredity definitely plays a part (see above).
• Men are more likely than women to get a duodenal ulcer. This difference is becoming less marked as more women smoke and so raise their gastric-acid secretion.
• Stress produces more acid in the stomach and so makes duodenal ulcers more likely.
• The heavy use of coffee, tea and cola drinks increases gastric acid production.
• Aspirin in large doses (especially as non-soluble tablets) can produce gastric ulceration.
• Milk actually raises the production of gastric acid in some people though it has for years been erroneously used as a treatment and preventive for duodenal ulcers.
• Refined foods are harmful too (see below).
• Alcohol produces dramatic rises in gastric-acid production and should be avoided.
Peptic ulcers are always more common in smokers than in non-smokers and a recent study found that smokers who continued even when taking the latest anti-ulcer medications (H2-antagonists) had higher relapse rates than non-smokers.
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