Gastritis: symptoms and treatment |
Gastritis: symptoms and treatment
In medicine, there are only two main forms of the disease: acute and chronic gastritis. Accordingly, chronic gastritis can be treated worse, but what are the differences between them? We will talk about this and much more below.
In general, the article will consist of the following items:
Symptoms of Gastritis
Causes of Gastritis
What are the types of gastritis
Treatment of gastritis with folk remedies
How to treat gastritis with drugs at home
Gastritis Prevention
Symptoms of Gastritis
During acute gastritis, a person may experience the following symptoms:
Heaviness in the upper abdomen, but the person does not fully understand that it is a pain or an overfilled stomach and nausea.
Pain in the left hypochondrium, back, upper abdomen. A painful sensation may appear both in the morning and immediately after a meal.
Vomiting and nausea after eating, which is accompanied by belching with an unpleasant odor.
Lack of appetite, and very protracted.
The stomach swells even after eating a small amount of food.
But gastritis is a rather hidden disease, because the symptoms are common enough for any ailments from the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms do not indicate the presence of a disease, but signal the importance of a medical examination. A person may practically not experience symptoms and not pay attention to them if they are dimly expressed, but then they will appear after drinking alcohol in large quantities. Gastritis makes itself felt while taking antibiotics or antipyretic drugs, for example, aspirin. Also, due to stress, a person is disturbed in metabolism, and the rate of digestion of food, this will certainly affect gastritis.
Chronic gastritis is even more difficult to detect, because the disease has already taken root and discomfort has become familiar to humans. He may not let himself know for a very long time, there will be no symptoms, but then they will appear in a very acute form. Symptoms of chronic gastritis are the same:
Stool disorder: constipation or diarrhea.
Vomiting after eating.
Weight loss.
Lack of appetite.
Prolonged pains that are localized in the upper abdomen.
Nausea while eating.
Bad breath
Upper abdominal pain
With exacerbations, gastritis begins to exhibit the same symptoms as the acute form of the disease. But chronic gastritis is not the most dangerous form, there is also an autoimmune and atrophic gastritis, which affects a person’s performance and affects all areas of life. Of the symptoms, the most common should be noted:
Dizziness and weakness, inability to exercise physical activity.
Small sores on the entire surface of the tongue.
Impaired absorption of vitamins, which reduces the amount of B vitamins in the blood and leads to general physical weakness and even impaired gait and coordination.
Unstable stool: diarrhea gives way to constipation and so on.
High blood pressure? Home treatment
There are contraindications. Talk to your doctor.
Causes of Gastritis
Not a single disease appears just like that. Gastritis develops gradually if a person eats huge portions in the evenings and nights, does not follow a diet, can eat spicy, and then immediately sweet. All this leads to the destruction of the walls of the stomach, the mucous membrane becomes inflamed, and then its condition becomes worse and worse. Inflammation is due to the fact that the body is struggling with the deformation in the mucous tissues, which occurs due to the use of various foods, especially cold and hot. Also, infections and antibiotics affect gastritis, if you are taking a course of antibiotics, take care to protect the gastrointestinal tract, otherwise gastritis cannot be avoided.
But one of the most common causes is the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. Although the connection of this bacterium with gastritis and a stomach ulcer was discovered not so long ago - the reliability of the information was confirmed, since getting rid of the bacterium can be cured not only of gastritis, but also of stomach ulcers. Helicobacter pylori is easy to detect, it is a very dangerous bacterium that destroys the gastric mucosa. If the destruction is superficial and the bacterium does not pass further, acute or chronic gastritis will appear. In more serious cases, the bacterium can go deeper, which injures the stomach and leads to an ulcer.
Often the disease appears after taking antipyretic drugs. Everyone knows that aspirin, despite its effectiveness, contains acid, which leads to burns of the gastric mucosa. But such an effect can be obtained when drinking alcohol in large quantities. Often people, by their own mistake or inattention, add large amounts of vinegar to their food, which also leads to gastritis. Of course, medications are much more aggressive than alcoholic beverages, because they contain substances that reduce the immunity of the stomach. Even when using ointments and creams, you can get gastritis, as part of the active substances passes under the skin.
What should be taken into account in your diet in order not to get sick with such an unpleasant disease? The most common nutritional errors leading to gastritis:
People do not chew enough food and swallow it through force. In addition, they do not even drink food, which leads to injuries of the mucous membrane. In this case, the digestion process will be slowed down several times, and dry food will lie in the stomach for a long time.
The temperature of the food is very important, since cold or hot food can injure the walls of the stomach. In order to digest food, the body must first cool it or reheat it to the desired temperature. During this process, the gastric mucosa will be damaged.
If a person regularly eats very spicy or salty foods, then after a while the mucous membrane will become inflamed. The fact is that spicy foods also lead to burns as well as antipyretic drugs. After taking spicy or salty foods, you need to drink milk, which will help restore the gastric mucosa.
Also, do not forget that the disease may depend on the characteristics of your immunity. For example, the immune system can make a mistake and fight with its own body, and not with the bacteria that have entered it. Such diseases are called autoimmune, so there is even a form of gastritis of the same name. Autoimmune gastritis is dangerous because it is difficult to treat, all antibodies that must cope with the disease - deform the walls of the stomach, only rooting gastritis. That is why, with the slightest problems with immunity, you need to see a doctor, otherwise the consequences will be very unpleasant, and treatment will be long and expensive.
The girl experienced a sharp pain
In most people, acute gastritis appears imperceptibly. How does this happen? First, a person eats spicy and hot food in large quantities at night or simply cannot eat at the right time due to work, and after that the lining of the stomach is deformed and Helicobacter pylori can enter at any time. But the disease begins even before the bacteria penetrate, because the mucous membrane is already damaged. The penetration of bacteria will be the final stage when gastritis will already become chronic.
What are the types of gastritis
As already mentioned above, there is chronic and acute gastritis. It is much easier to detect acute gastritis, since microflora with pathogenic bacteria grows very quickly if a person uses medications or other chemicals. True, gastritis is not the most dangerous disease, if you constantly drink antibiotics and antipyretic drugs, a stomach ulcer or complete deformation of the walls of the stomach may appear. During the development of the disease, the integrity of the mucous membrane deteriorates, and then substances that unbalance the body's immune system begin to be produced. When the immune system stops working correctly, inflammation of the mucous membrane begins. Gastritis is an attempt by the body to get rid of the disease, but it remains an independent disease that affects the digestion and assimilation of food.
Acute gastritis can occur due to an improper diet, when a person eats food with pathogenic bacteria during an allergy. The acute form of the disease provokes deformation of the walls of the stomach, but insignificant, because after some time the body recovers without additional help. True, for this the immune system needs to get rid of the root cause of the disease.
So gastritis hurts
Erosive gastritis can be the result of the use of aggressive alkalis and acids, which negatively affect the gastric mucosa. Because of this, not only the outer layer of the walls of the stomach is destroyed, but also the inner one, which leads to much more dangerous diseases, for example, a stomach ulcer, which is very difficult to treat.
Phlegmonous gastritis is characterized by the appearance of purulent inflammation in the gastric mucosa. As a rule, it appears after ingestion of solid particles of food, for example, unpeeled fish, when the bones get stuck inside and begin to rot. It may also be due to the ingestion of microorganisms into the stomach. Immediately after the onset of the development of the disease, a person has a temperature of 38-40 degrees Celsius and incredibly severe pain in the stomach. It is impossible to cure such gastritis at home, you need the help of an experienced surgeon, and the sooner the operation takes place, the better. If the operation is not performed, then the person will die of peritonitis, which cannot be cured.
Fibrinous gastritis is the rarest form of the disease that occurs with sepsis - blood poisoning. Accordingly, first of all, it is necessary to cure the root cause of the disease, and only then the residual symptoms of gastritis.
With proper treatment, you can get rid of acute gastritis in a week, however, the stomach will fully recover only after a few months. During acute gastritis, digestive problems appear, since gastric juice is produced in huge quantities with a high content of hydrochloric acid. This form of gastritis is called hyperacid. If you do not treat acute gastritis for a long time, then it will go into a chronic form. Like other chronic diseases, it will occur rarely, but very strongly. For example, after eating, a person may have nausea and pain in the stomach, and then it will completely disappear and the symptoms will not appear.
Sharp pain in the abdomen
Optionally, chronic gastritis appears after a prolonged lack of treatment of the acute form, it can appear as a separate disease. At the same time, a person will not feel any symptoms and ailments, so the disease can occur secretly for a long time. Chronic gastritis may appear for the following reasons:
Penetration into the body of a pathogenic bacterium called Helicobacter pylori.
Autoimmune effect on the stomach: the body's defenses will direct bacteria directly to the gastric mucosa.
The consequences of the disease of the gallbladder and liver: bile will enter the stomach in large quantities, which will lead to irritation of the mucosa.
The chronic form of gastritis is much more dangerous than acute. The thing is that the degree of damage is much wider and deeper, so the body is trying to restore the affected tissue. But here an error occurs: the connective tissue is restored, but the functional and useful cells are gradually replaced, which leads to atrophy of the mucous membrane and worsening of the human condition. Almost always, chronic gastritis has a reduced or increased acidity, but a more hypoacid form is found - a decreased acidity of the stomach. In this case, you can not even suspect the presence of the disease, because if the symptoms appear, then very briefly. Periodically, after taking medication or alcohol, a person develops heartburn, and then severe pain begins. Often strange sounds appear in the stomach, such as rumbling. Of course, food is not fully absorbed, sooner or later a person is faced with diarrhea.
Detecting a chronic form is much easier if it is caused by Helicobacter pylori. Because of this, the stomach cells do not recover, so a person begins to experience pain inside the whole body, and then the temperature rises, which characterizes an infectious disease. All this forces a person to turn to a therapist and go on a full medical examination of the body, including the passage of FGDS.
Treatment of gastritis with folk remedies
Folk recipes can cure gastritis with high and low acidity. Naturally, different ingredients are selected for the preparation of the medicine.
Medicines for the treatment of high acidity and gastritis
Potato juice is very effective for the treatment of gastric diseases, it is even recommended by gastroenterologists. Drink squeezed juice from potatoes daily in the morning, always on an empty stomach and half an hour before eating. After drinking juice, do not make sudden movements and reduce physical activity: lie down, rest, think about something good. You need to be treated for two weeks, despite the fact that you will feel significant relief after 2 days. Juice effectively copes with exacerbations of gastritis.
For intense pain, you need to use licorice root. A decoction of the root quickly relieves pain and has no contraindications. Take 10 grams of root and chop, then add 200 milliliters of hot water, and then let it brew for 40-50 minutes. Next, boil the broth over low heat for half an hour, and then strain through a gauze cloth. Drink the broth twice a day in the morning and before bedtime, drink at least 100 milliliters (half a glass) half an hour before meals. You can completely get rid of gastritis in 10 days of treatment.
Many people have an allergic reaction to honey, both light varieties and dark varieties. But if you are allergic, use it as a medicine for gastritis. Mix 200 milliliters of filtered warm water and 30 grams of honey of any kind in a glass, and then drink in one gulp half an hour before eating. Be sure to pour warm water, as it will be absorbed faster. Drink water with honey for exactly a month, after which repeat the treatment if you do not achieve a positive result.
Carrot juice not only supplies the body tissues with essential vitamins, but also helps in the treatment of gastritis. Squeeze the juice from the ripe carrots, and then consume in the morning about 100-150 milliliters. Drink juice until you feel relief. Many are scared during treatment due to the fact that urine changes color to darker - this is not scary, the fact is that juice affects the color of urine.
Gastritis can be obtained at work.
Medicines for the treatment of low acidity and gastritis
If, after a medical examination, you saw the diagnosis at the conclusion of the doctor - gastritis with low acidity, you should not use the above medicines. Because of this, you can only suffer, as the acidity will decrease even more. But traditional medicine successfully cures gastritis with high acidity, there are many ways to increase the amount of acid in the gastric juice and cure gastritis.
Tincture from the roots of elecampane will help get rid of the disease. Take 20 grams of roots and pour a glass of boiling water, and then put in a bowl with enamel coating. Add more water and put on the fire, then wait for the boil and leave the root for 30 minutes. Next, strain the root through cheesecloth and consume 20 milliliters of broth five times a day, regardless of the meal. The duration of treatment is 14 days.
As a medicine, you can use beaten egg whites. Eat them 30 minutes before the morning meal for two months, and you will forget that you once had gastritis.
How to treat gastritis with drugs at home
At the moment, there are two of the best drugs for gastritis: almagel and vicalin. Almagel is a mixture of enveloping and antacid substances. You can’t use it with water, nor can you drink water exactly one hour after taking the medicine. After taking it, you need to lie on your side and periodically turn over, for example, every 2-5 minutes. This is done so that the medicine gets on the walls of the stomach evenly. You can cure gastritis in one month, but it is better to consult a doctor before starting treatment.
Vicalin - contains substances that neutralize spasms, knit and relieve inflammation of the stomach. It is prescribed for chronic and acute gastritis with an increased amount of gastric juice and inflammation of the walls of the stomach. If acidity is lowered, you need to use Swedish bitterness, tincture of wormwood and plantain juice, but strictly after consulting a doctor. Thanks to bitterness, you can speed up digestion and improve appetite.
Gastritis happens from fast food.
Gastritis Prevention
As in the case of other gastrointestinal diseases, you need to normalize your diet and think out a diet that you will like. Below we list a few important rules to help you avoid getting sick:
Normalize the amount of complex carbohydrates, simple proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals in your diet.
Eat 4-5 times a day, but in small portions so as not to strain the stomach.
The last meal should be done 3-4 hours before bedtime.
Always chew food and drink it carefully so that your stomach does not overload.
Do not eat too hot and cold food. For example, you can’t eat hot potatoes with chicken, and then eat cold ice cream for dessert. This is very stressful for the stomach.
Do not drink alcoholic beverages especially those with a high alcohol content.
Do not eat undercooked and undercooked meat, as bacteria and germs are stored in it.
Refuse spicy, smoked and salty foods.
Do not drink antipyretic drugs if this can be avoided.
We sincerely wish you good health and never experience gastritis symptoms!