Bleeding Ulcer, or What can Happen if You Don't Treat a Simple Ulcer

Ulcer is a disease that unfortunately makes more and more victims each year, because modern lifestyle helps this disease to appear and advance. Ulcer is caused by a bacteria called Heliobacter Pylori, which billions of people are carrying. If a person that carries this bacteria lives a stressful life and eats a lot of spicy food (factors that help the bacteria quickly evolve) then he/she will most likely suffer from one of the many forms of ulcer. Ulcer occurs because this bacteria slowly eats the protective membrane around the lining of the stomach and exposes the sensitive tissue beneath it to the dangerous gastric acids inside the stomach. Therefore, ulcer causes an open wound in the stomach, esophagus or duodenum.
If someone has discovered that he or she is suffering from ulcer then the treatment must start as soon as possible because if the disease is left untreated severe complications can appear. The treatment is simple, the patient is prescribed a series of medication depending on the type of ulcer and how advanced it is.
But what happens if a person is not aware that ulcer is affecting him/her or if he/she simply leaves the disease untreated? Well an untreated ulcer can turn into a much worse form of ulcer - bleeding ulcer. It's called bleeding ulcer because loss of blood occurs due to the fact that H pylori keeps eating the tissue until it reaches the blood vessels and blood starts to enter the digestive track.
Someone that has bleeding ulcer will start vomiting blood, have black, loose stools, will start to experience pain in the abdominal area and indigestions will often follow a meal. In extreme cases, if nothing is done about the ulcer it will eventually lead to death, so bleeding ulcer must be treated immediately after it's discovered or its consequences will be felt in the entire body. Bleeding ulcer is treated through surgery in most cases, but surgery is not required if the illness is detected early. It is hoped that in the near future ulcer and bleeding ulcer treatment will be much easier because new medical tehniquies are researched intensively every day, since this disease affects more and more people and the situation is becoming alarming.
In conclusion, if you suspect that you have ulcer or bleeding ulcer pay a visit to the local doctor and ask for his advice as soon as you can, because in the early stages both ulcer and bleeding ulcer are treated with just a few pills, which is of course much better that going through surgery and suffering life-threatening complications.

By Groshan Fabiola

Good and Bad Foods for Stomach Ulcers

Not all foods are good for the stomach. When the stomach is suffering from ulcers, it is but wise to know what are the good and bad foods for stomach ulcers.
Ulcers are sores in the lining of the digestive tract. Types of ulcers are identified where they occur. Doudenal ulcers are ulcers in the duodenum. Ulcers in the stomach are known as gastric ulcers and ulcers in the esophagus are called esophageal ulcers.
What Causes Stomach Ulcers
There are various causes for stomach ulcers to occur but all are linked to food and proper hygiene. Before, most doctors believed that ulcers are mainly caused by stress and by eating too much acidic foods. But that all changed after a laboratory experiment discovered that a bacteria called H. pylori causes the infection in the digestive tract forming sores. Acidic foods and gastric juices can only aggravate the sores by burning the digestive tract walls.
Ulcers in the stomach are also caused by some anti-inflammatory medicines. These medications are what doctors usually give to patients with arthritis. These can be corrosive to the stomach lining, so if taken for a prolonged period of time, can increase the risk for ulcers. Naproxen, ibuprofen and aspirin are some of the known anti-inflammatory medicines that may trigger stomach ulcers.
How to Treat Ulcers
As mentioned earlier, stomach ulcers are mainly caused by an infection. So the primary recommendation that your doctor will give you will be to treat the sores by killing the bacteria first. This medication will last for 2 to 3 weeks or until there's no more trace of the bacteria in your stool. However, this treatment may not always be effective for people suffering from other diseases like diabetes and arthritis.
So to avoid any complication, why not treat stomach ulcers naturally?
The Bad Foods
Obviously, you wouldn't want to experience its symptoms. You don't want to feel the pain and see blood in your stool. Hence, you must avoid acidic foods that may trigger these symptoms. Alcohol, caffeine, spicy foods and high intake of sodium (or salt) can all contribute to this ailment. The first three increase the production of acids in the stomach while sodium can irritate its walls.
Sodium is not only contained in salt but most medicines and vitamin supplements contain sodium at a level unnecessary for our bodies. If you are taking some other medications, you must drink lots of fluids, especially pure water to help eliminate excessive sodium fast.
The Good Foods for Stomach Ulcers
Adding oily fish such as salmon, mackerel and halibut in your diet is very effective in treating ulcers naturally. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in high levels in oily fish, and studies show that Omega-3 increases the production of prostaglandins, a compound known to protect the walls of the digestive tract.
Antioxidants present in fruits and vegetables also help lower the risk of developing ulcers by protecting the lining of the stomach. They also help relieve symptoms when ulcers are already present. Dieticians recommend bananas, kiwi, apricots, raw cabbage juice, carrots and bell peppers.
Other good foods for stomach ulcers are almonds, whole grains, wheatgerm, cheddar cheese, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. These foods are good sources of amino acids, the building block of proteins which are proven to help repair damaged portions of the stomach lining.

Katherine Cornell