Peptic ulcer is a common disease in gastroenterology, which is an inflammatory ulcer caused by stomach acid and pepsin digestion of the mucosa of the digestive tract. It can occur near the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, and gastric-jejunal anastomosis, with gastric ulcers and duodenal ulcers being the most common.
Gastric ulcers are common in the elderly, duodenal ulcers are common in young adults, and some people will have compound ulcers that coexist with duodenal ulcers.
Peptic ulcer is the main symptom of abdominal pain or discomfort, which can show dull pain, burning pain, swelling pain, severe pain and other uncomfortable symptoms, and the disease has a chronic process, with a medical history of several years or even more than ten years. Pain and discomfort caused by peptic ulcers are mostly associated with eating, and there will be repeated episodes of periodic epigastric pain.
The mucous membranes of the human digestive tract rub against food every day and are easily damaged, so the epithelial cells of the digestive tract have a strong regenerative ability. People with peptic ulcers cannot rely on drugs alone to treat diseases, but more importantly, they must know how to protect themselves and avoid continued damage to the mucous membranes of the digestive tract.
Pay attention to the choice of food
Patients with peptic ulcer should try to eat easily digestible and nutritious foods, and do not eat irritating foods such as sweet, salty, sour, and spicy, as well as raw, cold, hard and other foods that are not easy to digest.
Avoid coffee and strong tea. Coffee contains caffeine, tea contains tea polyphenols, caffeine, tannin, these substances will promote gastric acid secretion, but also stimulate the central nervous system, reflexively promote gastrointestinal mucosal vasoconstriction, blood supply reduction, weaken the barrier function of the digestive tract mucosa, aggravate ulcers, resulting in worsening of the disease.
In terms of staple food choices, thin porridge and noodles are easy to digest, but it is not recommended for long-term consumption. Thin porridge and noodles are boiled at high temperatures, and the starch contained in them has a high degree of gelatinization and is easy to digest, but long-term consumption will lead to the degradation of the digestive function of the digestive system itself due to "use and waste".
Patients with peptic ulcer can choose to eat thin porridge and noodles during the acute onset of the disease, and after the symptoms are relieved, the daily staple food can choose steamed buns. The steamed bun needs to be fermented during the production process, which will convert some starch into small molecule sugars, and will also reduce the content of phytic acid, which is less irritating to the stomach. Pay attention to chewing and swallowing slowly when eating steamed buns, and not eating too much.
Soda cookies can be used as a daily snack, in which baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is added to neutralize stomach acid. When patients with duodenal ulcers experience hunger pain, chewing a few soda cookies can relieve the pain. However, the effect of soda biscuits in relieving pain cannot last, and it contains more oil itself, which is not conducive to health, so do not eat more.
Patients with peptic ulcer can replace part of the staple food with yam, which is rich in polysaccharides and has a protective effect on the gastric mucosa. But yam is not very digestible, can not completely replace the staple food, the amount of replacement is best not to exceed 1/3 of the staple food.
Vegetables can choose pumpkin, papaya, carrot, tomato and other orange-red vegetables, which contain more carotene, after entering the human body will be converted into vitamin A, help the repair of the digestive tract mucosa. However, such vegetables contain more dietary fiber, and they are easier to digest after cooking.
Patients with peptic ulcer should not drink milk for pain relief. Although milk can temporarily neutralize stomach acid and relieve pain, it contains a large amount of protein, which will stimulate gastric acid and pepsin secretion, making ulcer symptoms more serious.
Develop good eating habits
Do not eat before going to bed. Avoid inducing ulcers due to excessive gastric acid secretion caused by eating.
Chew thoroughly when eating. Let the teeth and tongue replace part of the function of the stomach, reducing the burden on the stomach. Try not to eat crude fiber foods such as bamboo shoots and bacon to avoid mechanical damage to the friction of the gastric mucosa.
Eat small and frequent meals in moderation. When hungry, stomach acid and pepsin will directly stimulate the ulcer to produce pain, reduce the time on fasting, and neutralize stomach acid with food can reduce pain. But it should be noted that food will also stimulate stomach acid secretion, so you can not eat frequently. It is recommended to keep the total number of meals eaten in a day unchanged, and change the three meals to five meals.
Don't overeat. Eating a lot in a short period of time causes acute gastric dilation, which can easily damage the self-protection mechanism of the stomach and lead to stomach ulcers.
Do not smoke and drink alcohol. Harmful substances in cigarettes can promote the constriction of blood vessels in the gastric mucosa, reduce the synthesis of prostaglandin E, stimulate gastric acid and pepsin secretion, and cause damage to the gastric mucosa. Alcohol has a direct stimulating effect on the gastric mucosa, weakening the barrier function of the gastric mucosa, and can stimulate gastric acid secretion, but also cause damage to the gastric mucosa, for people who have suffered from peptic ulcer, drinking alcohol is an important factor inducing gastric bleeding and gastric perforation.
Maintain emotional stability
The number of nerve cells in the digestive system is second only to the central nervous system, and fluctuations in human emotions have a direct impact on the digestive system. People will "sleep and forget to eat" when they are nervous, afraid and angry, and "don't think about tea" when they are anxious and depressed, which is the most intuitive manifestation of emotions affecting the digestive system.
Acute anxiety can cause abnormal secretion of autonomic neurotransmitters, resulting in an imbalance between attack factors and defense factors in the digestive system, which is an important cause of stress peptic ulcer; and after the occurrence of peptic ulcer, various discomforts and painful symptoms of the body will bring negative emotional experience. Emotional problems and peptic ulcers can cause and effect each other, forming a vicious circle.
People who are easy to get angry and often anxious and depressed should do a good job in emotional management, consciously cultivate their own hobbies and hobbies such as reading, calligraphy, art, music, chess, mountaineering, and making friends, so as to stabilize their emotions and enhance their psychological anti-stress ability.
Some depressed patients rely on their own strength to get out of bad emotions, they need to be treated by a psychologist, and antidepressants are used under the guidance of doctors.
Rational use of the drug
If there are other diseases that require medication, read the drug instructions carefully before using the medication to see if there are any adverse reactions that cause damage to the digestive tract. For example, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for antipyretic, analgesic, and rheumatism, as well as glucocorticoid drugs, tetracycline antibiotics and other drugs, have adverse reactions that cause damage to the digestive tract, and should actively communicate with the doctor before use, and try to replace them with drugs that have no impact on the digestive tract.
If you must use such drugs, you should pay attention to the monitoring of adverse reactions during the process of taking the drug, and when symptoms such as abdominal pain, black stools, and coffee-colored vomit appear, you should seek medical treatment in time. If long-term or high-dose application of drugs that are harmful to the digestive tract is required, it is recommended to use them in combination with drugs that inhibit gastric acid secretion under the guidance of a doctor to protect the mucous membranes of the digestive tract.
Text/Zeng Weihua (Deputy Chief Pharmacist, Anshan Central Hospital)