Chronic gastritis can be caused by both bacteria and drugs. It may also have an autoimmune basis. Regardless of the causes, chronic gastritis requires treatment as the consequences can be serious. What are the symptoms, causes, and how is chronic gastritis treated?
Chronic gastritis(Gastritis chronica) can distort the walls of the stomach, lead to bleeding and haemorrhage (haemorrhagic gastritis) and to atrophy of the mucosa (atrophic gastritis). One of the complications of chronic gastritis is the formation of erosions (erosive gastritis).
Chronic gastritis: symptoms
In chronic inflammation, the symptoms are quite characteristic:
- pains in the fovea that appear a few hours after a meal
- hunger pains
- night pains
- indigestion
- epigastric fullness
Chronic gastritis: causes
- Helicobacter pylori infection
- some medications
- improper diet with lots of stomach irritants
- irregular lifestyle
- smoking
- alcohol abuse
- hormonal disorders (e.g. diabetes)
Chronic gastritis: 3 types of the disease
- type A - immune form, autoantibodies are directed against the parietal cells of the stomach; occurs most often in the fundus and stomach, complete atrophy of the gastric mucosa, lack of hydrochloric acid in the stomach acid and vitamin B12 deficiency
- type B - Helicobacter pylori infection predominates, initially it appears in the antrium and then spreads towards the top of the stomach, with peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer occurrence
- type C - most of the changes are evenly distributed throughout the stomach and are caused by the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. It is often associated with non-specific reflux, this type has the best chance of recovery because the triggers for it can be eliminated
Chronic gastritis: treatment
The treatment of chronic gastritis depends on the type of disease we are dealing with:
- in typeAnd for chronic gastritis, vitamin B12 is administered parenterally
- Helicobacter pylori should be de alt with in type B of chronic gastritis
- in type C, eliminate the drugs that are causing the problem and perform symptomatic therapy
During the treatment of chronic gastritis, it is important to protect the mucosa, i.e. you must give up stimulants (alcohol and cigarettes, coffee and strong tea), avoid strong drugs that irritate the stomach.