Stomach ulcers, otherwise known as a peptic ulcer, are small holes in the gastrointestinal tract of your body. They are found in or near the stomach. That makes sense does it not? Most of the time these ulcers, such as the duodenal ulcer, are benign. But, the ulcer in the stomach is a different ballgame. That ulcer can turn out to be malignant. Since these internal sores affect millions of Americans each year, there is a 1 in 10 chance that you will develop one in your lifetime.

So what causes these gastric ulcers and what is the ulcer treatment you can expect? Well, let’s just tackle one question at a time. Here is what happens to cause this particular disease. The sensitive lining of the gastrointestinal tract (including the stomach) is in contact with the acid from the stomach. The acid wears a hole in the lining and an ulcer appears.

Most of the time, these ones are caused by a tiny bacterium and are really an H pylori ulcer. The Helicobacter pylori are a unicellular bacterium that can live in the acidic environment of the stomach. It is what weakens and erodes the mucous lining. Once the mucous is gone, the acid and bacteria can start work on the lining which then leads to an ulcer.

Stomach ulcers do give off some tell tale symptoms. They do mirror acid indigestion, acid reflux disease and heartburn, but you can try to narrow it down by keeping a list of your symptoms and when they occur. Look for symptoms like nausea, stomach upset and pain after eating. The pain may be more of a dull aching sensation.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 13th, 2008 at 10:51 am and is filed under Health & Beauty. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.