A gastric mucosa defect is called an ulcer, and its causes can be of various kinds:
- The bacterium Helicobacter pylori is the main cause of ulcer disease. At the moment, scientists have proved that this microorganism causes pathology of the organ in 95% of cases, and can also provoke gastritis and cancer.
- Abuse of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products. Harmful predilections play an initial role in the formation of foci, which affect the integrity of the walls of the stomach.
- Genetic basis of hereditary predisposition.
- Excessive content of hydrochloric acid in gastric juice.
- The causes of peptic ulcer of the stomach lie in the wrong diet: harmful food, lack of a regimen, mono-diet, overeating, carbonated drinks.
- Prolonged use of medications that adversely affect the digestive tract.
- Periodic psychoemotional disorders, stressful situations.
- Abuse of strong coffee and tea.
- Chronic pancreatitis, gastritis.
- Diseases of the endocrine system.
Symptoms of stomach ulcers
When a disease occurs, patients complain of pain in the upper abdomen. After some time, the pain syndrome descends to the middle of the abdominal cavity, but occasionally discomfort can be given in the hypochondrium, back, or in the navel zone. The localization of pain depends on the diet, because the number of causes from which there is an ulcer, is oily and spicy food. A characteristic period for the emergence of exacerbations are spring and autumn.
First, discomfort is manifested 30-45 minutes after eating, delaying for several hours. Most people suffering from peptic ulcer, at the initial stage get rid of stomach pain by drinking a glass of milk or drugs that reduce the acidity of gastric juice. To reduce the pain can and by cleansing through vomiting. Pain syndrome always has differences, if ulcerative foci are on the border between the intestine and the stomach, in the so-called prepiloric department. In this case, the feeling of discomfort develops gradually, and acute pain begins 2-3 hours after eating or at night. Often, pain syndrome is accompanied by eructations, nausea and vomiting, as well as swelling. But the appetite is not lost.
There is often an asymptomatic stomach ulcer, why most of the pathological people do not seek help from specialists in a timely manner. Disease without special signals is observed in patients abusing alcohol and smoking. This is a serious case, since several years of silent inflammatory process in the future is manifested by acute pain, bleeding, up to the perforation of the walls of the organ. Through holes in the stomach can be eliminated only through surgery.
Causes of stomach ulcers in women
More recently, stomach ulcers have been more common in men than women, but today these indicators have leveled, due to lifestyle and working conditions. Common causes of gastric ulcer in women - this is an irregular diet and nerves, which stimulate the release of a large amount of hydrochloric acid in the digestive tract.
The bacterium Helicobacter pylori is present in almost every organism, and it is harmless while destructive toxins do not promote its reproduction. In women, the ulcer begins with bloating, accompanied by nausea and vomiting, and then severe pains occur in the stomach. The faster the first anxious symptoms a person will seem to the gastroenterologist, the higher the chance to avoid serious complications and exclude the development of stomach cancer.
Treatment of stomach ulcers
At the first symptoms of stomach ulcers, it is necessary to begin treatment with a strict diet. It is necessary to exclude salted, fatty, fried and spicy food, avoiding too hot or vice versa of cold dishes. Eat soft and warm food in the form of puree, prepare meals for a couple. It is necessary to completely abandon carbonated drinks. During dietary nutrition, it is necessary to undergo a course of drug therapy, which will appoint a specialist on the basis of examination of the digestive tract. The gastroenterologist selects a medicinal group of means proceeding from individual indicators of an organism.
Treatment is done approximately as follows:
- Antibiotics-macrolits in the morning and in the evening for 500 mg. For example, Erythromycin or Clarithromycin is prescribed.
- Antimicrobials of the penicillin class of 500 mg three times daily after meals. Most often, doctors prescribe Amoxicillin.
- Means of the group of nitroimidazoles( Metronidazole) three times a day after meals.
Effective antibiotic therapy is used to kill a pathogenic bacterium that causes gastric ulcer. In parallel with antimicrobials, the administration of inhibitors is shown to lower the level of acid in gastric juice. For heartburn, they drink Ranitidine 150 mg or Omeprazole 20 mg each morning and evening before meals. To neutralize hydrochloric acid is shown the intake of antacids Almagel or Maalox half an hour before meals.
Preparations containing bismuth sub-citrate are widely used to treat stomach ulcers. The astringent De-Nol drug has an antiseptic effect on the mucosa, therefore it is always prescribed in complex therapy to neutralize the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. At the same time, the patient can take several drugs at once with a similar spectrum of action, and in rare cases, prescribe additional antimicrobial agents in injections. Drug therapy is designed for at least 14 days, and in severe cases it can be up to 4 weeks.
How does an ulcer occur?
Many people think that patients who have a stomach ulcer, necessarily have an open, profuse bleeding. This is not so, since pathology can have a latent form. Depending on the degree and complications of the disease of the digestive organ, patients suffer from vomiting of venous blood and a liquid stool of dark color. Already on these grounds it is possible to establish a peptic ulcer. In the case of latent blood loss, the patient has a decrease in activity, dizziness, pale skin, tinnitus, palpitations and frequent discharge of cold sweat. Detect latent bleeding can only by clinical analysis, which will confirm anemia.
After confirmation of the diagnosis and instrumental examination that will help to find out what causes the ulcer, the patient is compensated for the lost blood and prescribed a diet enriched with iron to increase hemoglobin. During the exacerbation of the disease, ulcerative foci can spread to the pancreas and other organs nearby. In this situation, a person experiences severe pain in the area of defeat, which does not last long. If the disease has deepened, you can not do without the surgeon's intervention.
Often patients with peptic ulcer suffer from gastritis. The combination of two diagnoses increases the risk of developing gastric cancer. To exclude a life-threatening complication, you should regularly undergo a routine checkup with a gastroenterologist, check gastric juice and mucosal tissue by microscopic examination.