There are plenty of gastrointestinal issues that can impact your general well-being. You need to understand different gastric ailments that may disrupt your health.
While some gastric issues are common and easily curable with medicines, some chronic diseases need immediate attention.
We are talking mainly about gastritis which is a state of inflammation. It happens when your stomach lining is reddened and swollen up.
The stomach lining is generally strong, and the daily acids do not hurt it in any manner. However, there are instances when it can get irritated and inflamed with certain foods and habits.
In this article, we will talk about gastritis in detail that includes its symptoms, cause, and treatments.
What is Gastritis?
Gastritis is an inflammation of your stomach lining. Different types of gastritis may affect your health differently.
Acute Gastritis: There is acute gastritis when there is sudden and severe inflammation.
Chronic Gastritis: In chronic gastritis, you may experience long-term inflammation that may last for years when it is not treated at the right time.
Erosive Gastritis: It is not a common condition that typically causes less inflammation but may lead to ulcers and bleeding on the stomach lining.
What Are The Common Symptoms of Gastritis?
There are not many noticeable symptoms of gastritis that make it even more challenging to detect the situation. However, the common symptoms that you may witness include:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Full feeling in the upper abdomen
- Indigestion
Erosive gastritis has quite different symptoms like:
- Black and tarry stool
- Blood in vomit
What Are The Causes Of Gastritis?
Gastritis is caused when your stomach lining is inflamed and swollen up. The digestive juices deplete your stomach lining and give rise to gastritis.
There are plenty of reasons that can cause gastritis. For instance, gastrointestinal bacterial infection can also lead to gastritis.
Helicobacter pylori are the most common bacteria that can destroy your stomach lining. It is essential to understand that this kind of infection can be passed on from one person to another. It can be transferred through contaminated water or food.
Apart from the bacterial infection, certain other conditions and activities can increase the chances of developing gastritis.
Here are a few gastritis causes:
- Extreme Alcohol Consumption: If you have been consuming alcohol excessively, then you are highly likely to develop gastritis. Chronic alcohol consumption is one of the significant reasons for gastritis, as alcohol severely depletes the stomach lining.
- Use Non-steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs): Some drugs are not good for your gut health. Ibuprofen, aspirin and other NSAIDs can lead to gastritis. They are anti-inflammatory drugs that may work adversely on the stomach lining. If you have been using NSAIDs, you may be on the high-risk radar.
- Cocaine Consumption: Just like alcohol, cocaine consumption is also highly detrimental to your health. It is a hydrochloride salt that is available in powder or solution form. Cocaine is also processed with ammonia that will damage the stomach lining.
- Age: Age factor is also a major in developing gastritis. With age, the risk for this stomach lining inflammation increases. It is essential to understand that the stomach lining naturally thins with age. So, when you start to age, you must be more considerate about your stomach.
- Tobacco Use: Tobacco use is injurious to health. It comprises several harmful ingredients that can severely impact your stomach lining. You must stop consuming tobacco if you don’t want your stomach lining to be depleted.
Other less common causes of gastritis
Apart from the above-mentioned gastritis causes, several other risk factors can lead to gastritis:
- Stress from illness, injury, or surgery: If you have undergone surgery, illness, or injury, then the stress from those incidents can disrupt the functions of your stomach.
- Autoimmune Diseases: Certain autoimmune diseases will attack your immunity and increase the chances of gastritis.
- Crohn’s Diseases: It is a digestive disorder that can also affect your stomach lining. If you have been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, you must be careful about gastritis.
Gastritis is a curable disease, but you need to be aware of gastritis causes to safeguard your health. Make sure to steer clear of the risk factors and reduce the chances of gastritis.
