Gastric Ulcer

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Disease/Condition and its Effect in the Body System
Gastric ulcers are open sores that develop inside the lining of the stomach. It occurs when the protective lining in the stomach stop working and breaks down. Most ulcers occur within the first layer of the stomach lining, when the ulcer goes all the way through the stomach it is called perforation and it is a medical emergency. The most common cause of gastric ulcer is an infection caused by bacteria called Helicobacter pylori (nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus) and people that are infected with H. Pylori have a 30% increase of getting stomach cancer. Drinking copious amount of alcohol, regular intake of NSAIDs, smoking and chewing tobacco, and radiation treatments can raise the risk of developing gastric ulcer (nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/). Different symptoms may occur such as abdominal pain, feeling of fullness, mild nausea, bloody or dark tarry stools, chest pain, fatigue, weight loss, and possibly bloody vomit. People that have liver disease, COPD, kidney failure, and family history increase the risk of developing gastric ulcer (healthcommunities.com).
Statistics
Gastric ulcer is more common in young males due to higher amount of them being smokers, but gastric ulcer perforation is more common in elderly males. As stated earlier, people that take NSAIDs daily have a higher risk because these medications inhibits the enzymes that helps protect the stomach lining. To test and see if the people have gastric ulcer the doctor will order esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and upper GI x-ray. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy is performed with a thin tube with a camera in the end and inserted through the mouth into the GI tact and check for ulcers in the stomach and the small intestine. Gastric ulcer ...

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...ty of support groups for people that suffer from gastric ulcer pain such as dailystrength.org and mdjunction.com. The support groups share their own experiences and how they deal with pain and treatments that are available for other patients.
What I Learned
I learned that there are many factors that can help develop gastric ulcers, also gastric ulcer are mainly caused by medication and infection not by stress and food. Also it is hard to understand why people cannot accept that bacteria cause gastric ulcer more so than stress and food even though there is scientific evidence that points to infections.

Works Cited

http://www.cdc.gov/ulcer/history.htm http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000206.htm http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/peptic-ulcer/basics/treatment/con-20028643
http://www.healthcommunities.com/peptic-ulcer-disease/causes.shtml

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