Gastritis Triggers: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment

15.09.202317.06.2023 by alexxlab

What are the symptoms of gastritis and gastropathy? What causes gastritis and gastropathy? How is gastritis treated?

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Symptoms of Gastritis and Gastropathy

The majority of people with gastritis or gastropathy don’t have any symptoms. In some cases, gastritis and gastropathy can cause symptoms of indigestion, also called dyspepsia. These symptoms may include pain or discomfort in the upper abdomen, nausea or vomiting, feeling full too soon during a meal, feeling too full after a meal, loss of appetite, and weight loss. If gastritis or gastropathy leads to erosions or ulcers, the stomach lining may bleed. Symptoms of bleeding in the stomach may include black or tarry stool, red or maroon blood mixed with the stool, cramps, discomfort or pain in the abdomen, feeling tired, short of breath, or light-headed, and red blood in vomit or vomit that looks like coffee grounds. If you have mild bleeding in your stomach, you may have a small amount of blood in your stool and not notice it, which is called occult bleeding.

Causes of Gastritis and Gastropathy

Different types of gastritis and gastropathy have different causes. Common causes include Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, reactive gastropathy caused by long-term contact with irritants like NSAIDs, alcohol, and bile reflux, autoimmune gastritis, and acute erosive gastropathy caused by serious health problems, severe injuries or burns, critical illness, or sepsis. Less common causes include celiac disease, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s disease, food allergies, and infections with viruses, parasites, fungi, and bacteria other than H. pylori.

Treatment for Gastritis and Gastropathy

The treatment for gastritis depends on the cause of the condition. If gastritis is caused by NSAIDs or other medications, avoiding those medications or taking them with food can help. Antacids, H2 blockers, and proton pump inhibitors can also be used to reduce stomach acid and allow the stomach lining to heal. For H. pylori infections, antibiotics and acid-reducing medications are often prescribed. In cases of autoimmune gastritis, dietary changes and supplements may be recommended. Severe or chronic cases may require hospitalization and more intensive treatment.

Preventing Gastritis and Gastropathy

Can gastritis be prevented?

Yes, there are some steps you can take to help prevent gastritis and gastropathy:
– Avoid or limit use of NSAIDs and other medications that can irritate the stomach lining
– Quit smoking and limit alcohol intake
– Eat a healthy, balanced diet
– Manage stress and get enough sleep
– Practice good hygiene to avoid H. pylori infection
– Get treatment for underlying conditions like autoimmune disorders or inflammatory bowel diseases

When to See a Doctor for Gastritis

When should I see a doctor about gastritis symptoms?

You should see a doctor if you experience persistent or severe symptoms of gastritis, such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, or symptoms of bleeding in the stomach. Seek immediate medical attention if you have severe abdominal pain, vomit blood, or have black, tarry stools, as these could be signs of a serious condition. Your doctor can diagnose the cause of your gastritis and recommend appropriate treatment.

Living with Gastritis

How can I manage gastritis at home?

There are some lifestyle changes that can help manage gastritis at home:
– Avoid foods and beverages that seem to trigger your symptoms, such as acidic, spicy, or fried foods
– Eat smaller, more frequent meals rather than large ones
– Avoid lying down right after eating
– Limit alcohol and quit smoking
– Take over-the-counter antacids or H2 blockers as needed to reduce stomach acid
– Manage stress through relaxation techniques, exercise, or counseling
If home remedies don’t provide relief, see your doctor, as you may need prescription medication or treatment for the underlying cause of your gastritis.

Gastropathy vs. Gastritis

What is the difference between gastropathy and gastritis?

Gastropathy is a general term that refers to any disease or disorder of the stomach lining. Gastritis is a specific type of gastropathy, characterized by inflammation of the stomach lining. While all gastritis is a form of gastropathy, not all gastropathies involve inflammation. Gastropathy can be caused by a variety of factors, including irritation, damage, or changes to the stomach lining, while gastritis is typically caused by infection, autoimmune issues, or exposure to irritants like NSAIDs. The symptoms and treatments for gastropathy and gastritis can overlap, but the underlying causes and specific characteristics differ.

Symptoms & Causes of Gastritis & Gastropathy

What are the symptoms of gastritis and gastropathy?

The majority of people with gastritis or gastropathy don’t have any symptoms.

In some cases, gastritis and gastropathy cause symptoms of indigestion, also called dyspepsia. Symptoms may include

pain or discomfort in the upper abdomen
nausea or vomiting
feeling full too soon during a meal
feeling too full after a meal
loss of appetite
weight loss

If gastritis or gastropathy leads to erosions or ulcers, the stomach lining may bleed. If you have symptoms of bleeding in your stomach, seek medical help right away. Symptoms of bleeding in your stomach may include

black or tarry stool or red or maroon blood mixed with your stool
cramps, discomfort, or pain in your abdomen
feeling tired, short of breath, or light-headed
red blood in vomit or vomit that looks like coffee grounds

If you have mild bleeding in your stomach, you may have a small amount of blood in your stool and not notice it. This is called occult bleeding.

What causes gastritis and gastropathy?

Different types of gastritis and gastropathy have different causes.

Common causes of gastritis and gastropathy

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) gastritis. Infection with H. pylori bacteria causes H. pylori gastritis. Researchers are still studying how people become infected. H. pylori bacteria may spread from person to person through contact with an infected person’s vomit, stool, or saliva. Food or water contaminated with an infected person’s vomit, stool, or saliva may also spread the bacteria from person to person.

Reactive gastropathy. Reactive gastropathy is caused by long-term contact with substances that irritate the stomach lining, most often nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), alcohol, and bile reflux, which is backward flow of bile from the small intestine to the stomach. Surgery that removes part of the stomach, such as some types of bariatric surgery, is the most common cause of bile reflux.

Long-term use of NSAIDs may cause reactive gastropathy.

Autoimmune gastritis. In autoimmune gastritis, the immune system attacks healthy cells in the stomach lining.

Acute erosive gastropathy. Serious health problems—such as severe injuries or burns, critical illness, or sepsis—can reduce the blood flow to the stomach lining, causing a form of acute erosive gastropathy called stress gastritis.

Contact with substances that irritate the stomach lining—including NSAIDs, alcohol, and cocaine—can also cause acute erosive gastropathy.

Other causes of gastritis and gastropathy

Less common causes of gastritis and gastropathy include

celiac disease
chemotherapy and radiation therapy
diseases that cause inflammation in the digestive tract, such as Crohn’s disease and sarcoidosis
food allergies
infections with viruses, parasites, fungi, and bacteria other than H. pylori, typically in people with weakened immune systems
portal hypertension

Symptoms, Treatment, Causes, and More

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Proton pump inhibitors

Medications called proton pump inhibitors work by blocking cells that create stomach acid. Common proton pump inhibitors include:

omeprazole (Prilosec)
lansoprazole (Prevacid)
esomeprazole (Nexium)

However, long-term use of these medications, especially at high doses, can lead to an increased risk of spine, hip, and wrist fractures. It can also lead to increased risk of renal failure, dementia, and nutrient deficiencies.

Speak with your doctor before beginning one of these medications to create a treatment plan that is right for you.

Acid reducing medications

Famotidine (Pepcid) is one example of a medication that reduces the amount of acid your stomach produces.

By lowering the amount of acid that’s released into your digestive tract, these medications relieve the pain of gastritis and allow your stomach lining to heal.

Shop for Pepcid online.

Antacids

Your doctor may recommend that you use antacids for rapid relief of gastritis pain. These medications can neutralize the acid in your stomach.

Some antacids may cause diarrhea or constipation, so talk with your doctor if you experience any of these side effects.

Shop for antacids online.

Probiotics

Probiotics have been shown to help replenish digestive flora and heal gastric ulcers. However, there’s no evidence that they have any impact on acid secretion.

There are currently no guidelines supporting the use of probiotics in ulcer management.

Shop for probiotic supplements online.

Weakness in your stomach lining allows digestive juices to damage and inflame it, causing gastritis. Having a thin or damaged stomach lining raises your risk for gastritis.

A gastrointestinal bacterial infection can also cause gastritis. The most common bacterial infection that causes it is H. pylori, a bacterium that infects the lining of the stomach. The infection is usually passed from person to person, but it can also be transmitted through contaminated food or water.

Certain conditions and activities may increase your risk for developing gastritis. Other risk factors include:

extreme alcohol consumption
routine use of NSAIDs like ibuprofen and aspirin
cocaine use
age, because the stomach lining thins naturally with age
tobacco use

Other less common risk factors include:

stress
autoimmune disorders
digestive disorders like Crohn’s disease
viral infections

Your doctor will perform a physical exam, ask about your symptoms, and ask for your family history. They may also recommend a breath, blood, or stool test to check for H. pylori. In addition, your doctor may:

Perform an upper GI endoscopy. This is to check for inflammation in the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum. Your doctor may take a small sample, or biopsy, of the lining of the stomach. A pathologist will examine this sample for anything unusual under a microscope.
Perform an upper GI series. This involves taking X-rays of your digestive tract after you swallow a barium solution. This will help distinguish areas of concern.
Send you for a blood test. This is to check for other causes for your gastritis symptoms or signs of complications.
Ask you for a stool sample. This may rule out an H. pylori infection or blood in your stool. Blood may indicate there’s bleeding in your stomach.
Ask you to do a urea breath test. This also tests for an H. pylori infection by having you swallow a urea capsule and then seeing whether you breathe out carbon dioxide atoms. This would indicate you have the infection.

If you need help finding a primary care doctor, you can browse doctors in your area through the Healthline FindCare tool.

If your gastritis is left untreated, it can lead to a variety of complications. Certain forms of gastritis can increase your risk of developing stomach cancer, particularly in people with thinned stomach linings.

Complications may include:

anemia
deficiencies in vitamin B12, vitamin D, folic acid, vitamin C, zinc, calcium, and magnesium
bleeding in the stomach
perforation inside the stomach
peptic ulcers
chronic atrophic gastritis, which causes the loss of cells in the gastric glands in addition to inflammation
gastric metaplasia and dysplasia, which are types of precancerous lesions in the stomach
achlorhydria, which prevents the stomach from producing the acid it needs to digest food properly
perforation of the stomach
cancers such as adenocarcinoma (gastric cancer), mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma, and neuroendocrine tumors (NET)

Because of these potential complications, it’s important to consult with your doctor if you experience any symptoms of gastritis, especially if they’re chronic.

Preventative strategies may depend on your health and whether or not you have any conditions that put you at risk for developing gastritis. But, since gastritis doesn’t always have a clear cause, it can be hard to prevent.

However, there are some things you can do:

Maintaining good hygiene habits. Habits like handwashing may help you reduce the risk of having a H. pylori infection.
Taking good care of your mental health. Self-care and de-stressing practices may reduce your risk of developing stress-induced gastritis.
Eating smaller meals more slowly and regularly. Also, avoiding or limiting fried, salty, sugary and spicy foods (these are things that research shows could trigger gastritis symptoms).
Quitting smoking, if you smoke.
Avoiding or limiting alcohol and caffeine.

The outlook for gastritis depends on the underlying cause. Acute gastritis usually resolves quickly with treatment. H. pylori infections, for example, can often be treated with one or two rounds of antibiotics.

However, sometimes treatment fails and it can turn into chronic, or long-term, gastritis. Talk with your doctor to develop an effective treatment plan for you.

Diet for gastritis and ulcers: what not to eat – doctor’s advice | About health and medicine

Mar 13,
11:50
|

Margarita Savinova

Margarita Savinova
Writer of the editors of the site of the Fifth channel

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Gastroenterologist Dyuzheva: With gastritis, it is important to exclude foods that cause discomfort from the diet

Photo: www. globallookpress.com / Sergey Petrov

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Gastritis is one of the most common diseases of the stomach. A special diet that excludes certain foods will help patients avoid pain. Maria Dyuzheva, a gastroenterologist at the SberHealth medical online service, told Moslent about this.

In her opinion, first of all, it is important to eliminate food triggers from your diet that provoke discomfort after eating.

“There are no specialty foods to avoid for gastritis or ulcers. It is worth adhering to the principles of rational nutrition, with a small individual correction, ”, the specialist emphasized.

The gastroenterologist also added that a person may not even know that he has gastritis, since the disease is often asymptomatic. And all because there are no pain receptors in the gastric mucosa. But an ulcer, on the contrary, almost immediately makes itself felt, since it affects the deeper layers of the stomach. Moreover, the disease is often accompanied by pain in the abdomen after eating and nausea.

A common cause of gastritis and stomach ulcers is the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. Also, the trigger may be the frequent use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that damage the gastric mucosa.

At the same time, according to Dyuzheva, the doctor selects an individual treatment for each person in case of an exacerbation of the disease.

Previously, 5-tv.ru told which dietary supplements lead to cirrhosis and hepatitis.

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Treatment of gastritis in Minsk, treatment of chronic and acute gastritis

Gastritis is a disease of the stomach resulting from inflammation of the mucosa. Given the variety of factors leading to the development of the disease, acute gastritis and chronic are distinguished.

The acute form is caused by the influence of one-time irritants: spoiled food, stress, a large dose of alcohol taken or taking certain medications. The main causes of chronic gastritis are:

Helicobacter pylori infection,
unbalanced diet,
alcohol abuse and smoking,
stress, depression, neuroses,
long-term medication,
decreased immunity.

Chronic gastritis can occur even after an untreated acute illness. Its development is often influenced by internal factors: heredity, insufficient intake of vitamins, the presence of endocrine diseases and other diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

Exacerbation of gastritis often looks like food poisoning. The main symptoms are weakness, nausea and vomiting, flatulence, belching, lack of appetite and weight loss, pain in the stomach. If the disease was caused by an infection, then the patient may be disturbed by fever.

Chronic gastritis develops gradually. For a long time, the disease may not manifest itself at all. Over time, pain, a feeling of heaviness appear, heartburn and a feeling of dry mouth are possible. The presence of at least one sign should alert the patient. Treatment of gastritis should be started as early as possible. Without the timely intervention of doctors, the disease can cause ulcers and stomach bleeding. Chronic gastritis, which has not been treated for a long time, can lead to the appearance of cancerous tumors.

Since the symptoms of chronic gastritis are difficult to self-diagnose, the diagnosis should be made by an experienced gastroenterologist. To clarify the diagnosis, the doctor will definitely prescribe an additional examination:

Ultrasound of the abdominal organs,
blood and urine laboratory tests,
endoscopy,
biopsy of the gastric mucosa.

The treatment of chronic gastritis is complex and begins with the normalization of the regimen and diet. Compliance with the diet effectively fights gastritis: in this case, smoked, salty, fried and citrus fruits should be abandoned. It is also recommended to refrain from drinking alcohol, coffee and smoking. Further, the patient is prescribed medications that normalize the acidity of gastric juice and restore the mucous membrane. If Helicobacter pylori bacteria are detected, antibiotic therapy is performed.

If you are looking for a specialized clinic in Minsk where you can treat gastritis, the MedClinic Proctological Center is ready to offer you its services.