Archive for the ‘Gastrointestinal’ Category
TREATMENT OF ULCERS
Monday, December 7th, 2009
Q. Now we come to the most important part of all — treatment. Once the physician has diagnosed a peptic ulcer, and has proved by biopsy that the stomach ulcer is an ulcer and not a hidden cancer, what then?
A. There are several different forms of treatment currently available. Several are effective, some more than others. There is one important point which doctors know, but patients are apt to overlook, or probably do not know.
A peptic ulcer is an ongoing process. Once it has developed, it will certainly be stopped with adequate treatment. But once therapy has stopped, the same conditions as prevailed before treatment will again occur, and the chances of a recurrence are very high. In fact, most peptic ulcers, on cessation of treatment, will recur. With high levels of acid and pepsin in the stomach and duodenum, the wall lining inevitably suffers, and more ulcers are more or less inevitable. Not everybody will redevelop ulcers, but a significant number will, and this must be borne in mind at all times.
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