PEPTIC ULCER

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 Case scenario:

                         A 23-year-old man visited a clinic with the complaint of upper abdominal pain, nausea, heartburn, and sometimes vomiting. He was in the usual state of health 5 days ago when he started having epigastric pain. Pain aggravated at night after having a large meal. He was fond of hot and spicy foods. He had a family history of peptic ulcers disease. He denied cigarette smoking.

Epidemiology:

                      In the United States, around 4 million people have active peptic ulcers and around 350,000 new cases are diagnosed every year. 4 times as many duodenal ulcers are diagnosed as related to gastric ulcers. Around 3,000 people die every year due to gastric and duodenal ulcers each. There has been a marked decrease in hospitalization and morbidity of ulcers in modern times. Hospitalization rates for duodenal ulcers decreased around 50% from 1970 to 1978, but hospitalization rates did not decrease for gastric ulcers. There appear to be low ulcer rates in the summer. There is strong evidence that cigarette smoking, prolonged use of aspirin and steroids may also cause peptic ulcers. There is some evidence that coffee and aspirin substitutes may affect ulcers, but most studies do not implicate food, stress, or alcohol consumption as causes of ulcers. Around half the patients have elevated plasma pepsinogen I levels. A small risk factor in the development of ulcers is the blood group O and those people who do not secrete their blood antigens in saliva. In most western countries the morbidity from duodenal cancers is more than that from gastric ulcers but the number of deaths is equal by both ulcers.

Causes:  

            The main cause of peptic ulcers is getting infected with the bacterium helicobacter pylori and long-term usage of nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, and naproxen sodium. 

Symptoms:

  1. Burning stomach pain
  2. Feeling of fullness, bloating, and bleaching.
  3. Intolerance to fatty foods
  4. Heartburn
  5. Nausea

Complications:                 

                                   The 4 major complications of Peptic ulcer disease are bleeding, perforation, Penetration, and obstruction.

Diagnosis:

               Upper GI endoscopy is the preferred test to diagnose a possible peptic ulcer.

Management:

                     If H.pylori is found in your digestive tract, your doctor may recommend you a series of antibiotics to kill the bacterium.

Prevention:

  1. Avoid tobacco products
  2. Avoid alcohol
  3. Use caution with aspirin and NSAIDs
  4. Don't ignore your ulcer symptoms.
  5. Prevent the infection by washing hands 

References:

  1. The Case scenario was taken from a website called MedCrave; This article was written by Iqraa Anwar and Saleha Saleha; The URL to the website is 

https://medcraveonline.com/IJVV/peptic-ulcer-mini-review-with-respect-to-case.html 

     2. The Epidemiology was taken from a website called National library of medicine; It was written by JB Kurata and BM haile; The URL of this website is 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6378441/ 

     3. The Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Management are all taken from a website called Mayoclinic; The URL of the website is 

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/peptic-ulcer/symptoms-causes/syc-20354223

     4. The complications were taken from a website called Karger; The authors are Milosavljevic T, Kostic-Milosavljevic M, Jovanovic I, Krstic M; The URL to the website is 

https://www.karger.com/Article/Pdf/331517

     5. The Prevention was taken from Hunterdon gastroenterology associates; The URL of the website is

https://hunterdongastro.com/peptic-ulcers/


                


 


 

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