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Nearly 30% of the population and 45% of urban residents in Vietnam suffer from gastritis. Do you?
Gastritis - duodenitis is one of the most common gastrointestinal diseases. Without thorough consultation and treatment from doctors, gastritis may persist for years.
What is gastritis – duodenitis?
Gastritis is the inflammation of the stomach lining. Duodenitis is the inflammation of part of the small intestine located just near the stomach (duodenum). The conditions may be acute (occur suddenly and last for a short period of time) or chronic (gradually progress and last for months or years).
What causes gastritis and duodenitis?
There are 3 main groups of causes for gastritis and duodenitis:
- Helicobacter Pylori (HP): This is known as the most common cause of gastritis and duodenitis in Vietnam and many other countries in the world. The bacterium may be transferred from person to person mainly through contaminated food and drinks. It is found that around 70% of Vietnamese are infected with HP.
- Long-term use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs): NSAIDs include a variety of medications used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases for the reduction of inflammatory symptoms such as: swelling, redness, pain, and for the functional recovery of affected areas.
- Unhealthy lifestyle: Extreme stress at work, inappropriate methods of weight loss, drinking too much alcohol, etc.
Other causes include: food allergy, long-term use of drugs for medical treatment, autoimmune conditions that can result in atrophic gastritis, etc.
Signs and symptoms
Patients can experience different symptoms depending on the severity level. Gastritis and duodenitis can produce common symptoms as follows:
- Feeling full, loss of appetite.
- Belching, heartburn.
- Burning sensation, pain along the breastbone (sternum).
- Nausea and vomiting, especially after meals.
- Abdominal pain.
- Sharp pain at the back.
- Bowel movements disorders: higher need of bowel movements, loose stools.
Untreated cases of gastritis and duodenitis can become chronic, with following symptoms: anemia (the blood doesn’t have enough red blood cells), weight loss, feeling of empty stomach and continuous hunger to eat, etc. The most dangerous consequences are stomach ulcers and stomach bleeding with following signs: vomiting red blood, vomiting black blood, black stools, bloody stools.
Complications
- Stomach bleeding: This is a dangerous complication of acute/chronic gastritis and duodenitis and other conditions.
- Stomach perforation: This is an extremely serious complication. When ulcers are formed, the stomach wall becomes thinner, which gradually causes a hole in the stomach called perforation accompanied by stomach bleeding.
- Pyloric stenosis: Pylorusis the furthest part of the stomach that connects to the duodenum (small intestine). Pyloric stenosis is the condition in which the opening between the stomach and small intestine thickens due to the inflammation of the stomach lining.
- Stomach cancer: This is the most serious complication of gastrointestinal diseases, usually occurs in people with chronic gastritis accompanied by a medical history of HP infection, or having family member(s) suffering from cancer, or having a habit of eating salty food and smoking too much cigarettes.
How are gastritis and duodenitis diagnosed?
To diagnose gastritis and duodenitis, the doctor may review the patient’s medical history, conduct a thorough clinical examination and perform blood tests to screen for HP infection and anemia. At present, gastroscopy is known as the most accurate method to diagnose gastritis. This is also an effective way to screen for stomach cancer.
At American International Hospital (AIH), gastroscopy is performed to diagnose gastritis, each gastroscopy lasts 15 to 20 minutes (normal endoscopy lasts around 3 to 5 minutes). The endoscopy aims at evaluating carefully the lesions, screen for highly risky lesions that may lead to cancer. Especially, all the tools used in an endoscopy are strictly sterilized by automatic machines following American standards in 45 minutes before being used for patients.
Treatment of gastritis and duodenitis
The key to keep gastritis away for good is to identify and eliminate its underlying causes.
Patients can be prescribed drugs to reduce acid production and promote healing. In some cases of acute gastritis which might cause severe pain and nausea, the doctor may indicate additional medications for symptomatic relief.
In addition, lifestyle changes such as practicing healthy eating habits, developing work – life balance, avoiding alcohol, etc. are of great importance during the treatment of gastritis. In terms of gastritis diet, patients should limit the consumption of alcohol (e.g. beer, wine, coffee), carbonated drinks, hot and spicy food, fast food, fried/grilled food, or hard/dry food that might cause indigestion.
Gastritis may recur and persist for years?
Gastritis can be completely curable. However, without thorough consultation and treatment from doctors, gastritis may recur and persist for years. It’s important that patients are fully aware of the disease, its consequences and how to make positive life changes to prevent gastritis to happen or recur.
In addition, high risk factors such as working under high pressure, non-standard working hours, or long-term use of medications for other diseases, etc. are also related to the tendency of gastritis to recur.
To Van Quyen, MD. – Gastroenterologist - Hepatologist, American International Hospital (AIH)
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