subject: Gastritis Causes And Symptoms [print this page] Gastritis, a condition that involves the irritation and inflammation of the stomach, afflicts millions of people. Any number of things causes it, from injury to bacteria. In that respect, it is akin to a headache: It can strike anyone, and it can be caused by a wide variety of factors both internal and external, but what is gastritis exactly?
Many symptoms point to gastritis. Here are some of them.
- A burning pain similar to indigestion in your upper abdomen. In some people, the pain gets better after eating; in others, it gets worse.
- Nausea. A sick-to-your-stomach kind of feeling, which may or may not be accompanied by vomiting.
- Loss of appetite. This tends to go along with nausea, but many gastritis patients find they have no appetite even when theyre not feeling nauseated. After a couple of mouthfuls theyre done.
- Belching or bloating. This can simply be gas, but if its chronic or severe, it could be caused by gastritis.
- Feeling particularly full in your upper abdomen after a meal.
- Unexplained weight loss. Of course, if youre feeling nauseated and lacking in appetite, the weight loss is to be expected.
Causes:
Gastritis is generally preventable in the same way that most stomach-related ailments are preventable: by eating right and living a healthy lifestyle. Smoking, excess alcohol and caffeine can all damage your stomach lining and cause gastritis. Foods that are highly spiced or hard for you to digest should be avoided, too. In addition, some drugs, including simple over-the-counter aspirin, are irritating to the stomach lining. If possible avoid taking such drugs altogether if you know you have gastritis.
Symptoms:
Take a look at the common symptoms: nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, heartburn, belching, and bloating. All of these are symptoms of many other ailments, too, from serious illnesses to mild inconveniences. You may think you have gastritis when in fact you just have simple heartburn that can be alleviated with a Rolaids tablet.
So in order to know whether gastritis is truly what ails you, it is necessary to see a doctor and have him or her perform tests to arrive at a definitive diagnosis. There are a few different tests your doctor might run, or he or she might run some combination of them.
Diagnosis:
First is the upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. This sounds much more complicated than it is. The doctor simply takes an endoscope -- which is a very skinny tube with a miniature camera affixed to it -- inserts it down your throat and into your stomach. A monitor similar to a TV will show what the camera is seeing down there, and the doctor will investigate the condition of the stomach lining to see whether it has been damaged but its not painful or traumatic for most patients and they numb your throat first. The doctor might also take a small piece of tissue from your stomach lining to run tests on it, a process known as a biopsy.
