KATHMANDU: Nowadays, when the patients visit a doctor they say they have got gastritis. When we ask what happened, they report the symptoms such as pain in the upper part of the abdomen, burning sensation in the abdomen, bloating, nausea and burning in the chest. The patients name the disease themselves.
More than a disease, gastritis is collection of all diseases. Chronic anxiety is one of the most common cause of gastric.
Even though they do not have actual case of gastritis, people fear they are suffering from gastric and succumb to it. Checking does not show any internal problems. Going one step further, such symptoms can lead to gastric ulcers and cancer.
It is important to know what causes fungal dyspepsia, what causes gastric ulcer and reflux disease or even what causes cancer, including stomach related diseases. It is useful to know the causes and the measures to ward it off.
How to treat gastritis?
When someone comes and tells us that s/he is suffering from gastritis, we cannot dismiss it as nothing. As medical practitioners, we have to go through certain procedure. For example, their claim requires an investigation.
We should see what’s going on in the gastrointestinal tract. For it one has to take to endoscopy. There are methods to check whether there is a type of bacteria, germ, which causes gastric ulcer etc.
However, not everyone who has gastritis needs endoscopy. Many people are scared of endoscopy. Not everyone has to undergo endoscopy.
If a person under the age of 45 comes with the complaint that s/he has got gastritis, we have to see whether they have other stomach ailments.
Why endoscopy?
If you suddenly lose weight at an early age, it is important to do an endoscopy to find out what caused it. If nausea, vomiting, blood vomiting, black stools, symptoms are seen without any reason, endoscopy is very important.
If something is difficult to swallow, if something gets stuck frequently while eating, it can be a symptom of cancer.
In such cases endoscopy should be done immediately. If people feel very tired, have alarming heart palpitations, anemia etc. it might need endoscopy.
For anemia might have been caused by ulcer. And, there may be blood leaks due to some other diseases that one is not aware about; in such cases endoscopy can be of great use for diagnosis.
Why is endoscopy difficult in the neck and abdomen?
During endoscopy, the inside of the esophagus and stomach is examined by attaching a camera to the pipe. This procedure is performed by an expert doctor. It is not much difficult when executed by experts. This is a process that can be done in 2 to 5 minutes.
The information or situation obtained from it can be found directly. When you send a pipe through the mouth, it becomes ‘Gariflex’. If that doesn’t work, there is still a way to go through it. We normalize ‘Gariflex’.
That is why it feels slightly uncomfortable. The effect of local anesthesia disappears in 20 to 30 minutes. The patient may feel uncomfortable as the abdomen may swell as we have to inflate during endoscopy. There is no need to panic.
Meals and gastritis
We recommend avoiding hot and spicy items in meals and avoiding tension. Ulcers are caused by a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori.
Earlier, everyone with ulcers had to undergo surgery. Nowadays, if you know that bacteria cause ulcers, one can kill the bacteria after examination, this helps in avoiding surgery. Another cause of ulcer is the tendency to take painkillers without testing; this can lead to ulcers.
What foods should we eat to avoid gastritis?
To avoid gastritis, you should not eat greasy, spicy food. Don’t eat too much. Oily food is likely to cause reflexes. The small tube that connects to the stomach returns to the top. Due to which there are symptoms of burning of the esophagus and the uneasiness caused by the reflexive sour water.
Do not eat foods that loosen the valves attached to the stomach. Also, you should not eat chocolate because it contains caffeine. Also, there is no prescriptive drug that will stop the flow, though their effects can be curtailed.
Medication should be taken only on the advice of a doctor. ‘I have taken medicine, yet I have no symptoms,’ some people say like this. However, they should understand that sometimes symptoms manifestation might take time.
But some patients have to take painkillers for a long time. Among such patients forty percent may develop stomach ulcers, but 60 percent may not.
Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a long time for the symptoms. You only know when the complication comes. People who take painkillers get ulcers even if they do not show any symptoms. I urge all not to buy the medicine without consulting a doctor.
What to do to prevent problems?
First of all, you have to pay attention to food. You pay attention to the greasy, hot and spicy, sour food. One should abstain smoking and/or drinking. One should feel tension free. The greater the anxiety, the greater the risk of ulcers.
My advice is ‘Don’t go to the medical store unnecessarily and don’t take medicine without consulting a doctor.’ People with heart disease should consult a doctor as soon as they have feel they have symptoms. Gastritis can be healed provided the medication starts on time.
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