Miss AA, ND 2 Polytechnic student shared her experience on
Ulcer. Here is an excerpt:
“I started taking felvin about two years ago to relieve my
menstrual pain. I never knew it had caused many damages to my stomach until I
was diagnosed of Peptic Ulcer Disease in July, 2013. Funnily enough, I didn’t notice
anything until 3 months ago when I started feeling pain in the upper part of my
tummy; eating was always making it worse. Mehn, the feeling was not pleasant at
all. But the good news is that I’m actually free now after receiving proper treatment.”
What is Peptic Ulcer Disease?
Please, let’s take a look at this
question very quickly. "Which of these wounds will heal faster: the one on
your back where your touch is within limit or the one on your chest which you
can easily reach and take care of?” Peptic
Ulcer Disease abbreviated as PUD, is therefore a wound found mainly on the
walls of our stomach and duodenum. Hmmm... the duodenum! It’s the pipe that
connects to the stomach and channels food contents to the other parts of the
digestive tract. This time, the wound is neither within reach nor visible to
the eye, it’s deep down there.
What are the causes?
It the end result of an imbalance
between the digestive fluids in the stomach and duodenum. This is mostly caused
by some bacteria called Helicobacter
pylori. These bacteria cause more damages in the duodenum compared to the
stomach. Your risk of infection with these organisms is high when you consume
food prepared under less than ideal conditions/exposed to contaminated water or
soil, when you don’t observe adequate sanitation practices amongst others.
Another major culprit is Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs. They are a
group of Pain killers such as Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Naproxen, Felvin and a few
others. PUD could also be a result of tumor in the stomach or duodenum.
Symptoms
Ø Dull aching pain or peppery sensation
which is usually on the upper part of your abdomen (tummy) or even under the
left rib cage. It is mostly associated with hunger, relieved upon eating or
even worsens with food. Sometimes, it might wake you up at night.
Ø Heart burn
Ø Other symptoms include weight loss,
bloating, water brash (the sour taste of acid in your mouth), nausea, vomiting.
There may also be blood in stool or the stool may appear tarry dark and foul
smelling. In fact, there may even be back pain.
Diagnosis
There are other medical conditions
with similar clinical presentations to those above. If you are having any of
these symptoms, visit the hospital. Your Health Care Professional will ask you
certain questions, might run some tests on you as well.
Who are those that are more likely to develop PUD?
You have a greater risk if you belong
to any of these categories:
·
Family
history of Peptic Ulcer Disease
·
Regular
consumption of alcohol
·
Smoking
of Cigarettes
·
Avoid
overuse of Aspirin and/or other NSAIDS.
·
Stress
·
Eating
food prepared under less ideal conditions
Treatment
The GOOD NEWS is that PUD can be
treated and this is only a matter of compliance with the required drugs for a
maximum of two weeks. You will be given some drugs which help to reduce acid
levels and allow your ulcer to heal. They are called Proton Pump Inhibitors
(PPI). You may also be given certain antibiotics as well as tips on lifestyle
changes. Taking milk cannot cure your
ulcer. In fact, milk can make your ulcer worse. It provides brief relief of pain
because it coats the stomach lining. But, milk can also stimulate the stomach
to produce more acid and digestive juices, which can aggravate ulcers.
Prevention Tips
o
Don’t
smoke
o
Avoid
alcohol
o
Curb
the use of over the counter NSAID use
o
Reduce
Stress
o
Good
hygiene practices
o
If
you have symptoms of an ulcer, contact your health care provider.
If you are already suffering from
PUD, ensure that you:
o
Eat
slowly.
o
Eat
6 small meals instead of 3 big ones.
o
Don’t
eat or drink anything for at least 2 hours before going to bed and if you take
naps, try sleeping in a chair.
o
Avoid
spicy foods, caffeine and coffee.
There is no doubting the fact that
wounds eventually close up and heal on their own provided the ‘indicting’ agent
has be dealt with. The lining of our alimentary canal particularly the stomach
has a very great tendency of shedding and generating newer cells. Despite this,
the end result of a wound is nothing but a scar. The message is this:
So far H. pylori keeps its territory within the stomach, NSAIDs are
used without prescription, you wait to feel pain before you eat, then, these
scars will open up and even form worse scars……And you must realise that Peptic Ulcer Disease can be fatal if
not treated. It is fatal in the sense that it can become complicated and this
could result in: Perforation of the intestines, blood in stool, blood in
vomitus, and blockage of the stomach outlet.
At HRF Nigeria Health unit, we are always
at your service. You may want to leave comments here. For questions and
enquiries, contact us
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