Netizen question: I have just been diagnosed with a stomach ulcer, I am taking medication treatment, in order not to affect the health of my family, I decided to eat with my family, and a separate pair of chopsticks. But my family felt that I was a bit fussy, saying that I had never heard of stomach diseases that had to be isolated like this. May I ask, is this kind of behavior necessary for me?
Gastric ulcers are mainly caused by the destruction of the gastric mucosa, the stomach produces stomach acid, which begins to digest its own muscles. Normal people have a gastric mucosal barrier that blocks the stomach acid. If the gastric mucosal barrier is attacked and destroyed, then it is possible to digest itself on its own, and ulcers will form over time.
There are many common factors that cause damage to the gastric mucosal barrier, but helicobacter pylori infection is currently more clear.
There are also some drug effects, such as long-term use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, that is, aspirin, fenpide and other antipyretic painkillers, in addition to some anticoagulant drugs, such as warfarin.
Gastroscopy reports often include words such as erythema, erosion, and ulceration, which simply means that the severity of the lesion is different. Erythema is only caused by inflammatory stimulation, erosion is a breakage of the mucosal surface, and ulcers cause damage that exceeds the mucosal mucosa. That is, the erythema is the lightest, followed by erosion, and ulcers are the most severe.
Due to the high infection rate of Helicobacter pylori and the fact that its transmission route is generally mouth-to-mouth and fecal-oral route, close contact, eating contaminated food and drinking water may be contagious. Therefore, if there are infants or children in the family, it is recommended that they be properly isolated so as not to infect them.
Existing studies have found that the first Helicobacter pylori infection often occurs in children before the age of 10, and although the infection in adults is also common, it is relatively rare, and its main source of infection may come from family members, such as parents, siblings, etc. It can be seen that mutual infection between family members is still very common, and it is right for patients and families to be isolated by meals.
If possible, family members go together to detect Helicobacter pylori, which can eliminate mutual infection after close contact and effectively reduce the recurrence of gastric ulcers.