Chronic gastritis

Chronic gastritis is a chronic inflammation of the gastric mucosa, as opposed to Acute Gastritis where the symptoms occur for a relatively short time. Chronic gastritis is a chronic inflammation of the gastric mucosa, as opposed to Acute Gastritis where the symptoms occur for a relatively short time. Many people who have chronic gastritis do not experience any noticeable symptoms. Those who do, claim to experience one or several of the following: upper abdominal pain, indigestion, bloating, nausea, vomiting, belching, loss of appetite, and weight loss. Stomach bleeding or black stool has been reported in extreme cases. Chronic gastritis is a progressive, life-long inflammation. It usually begins in childhood with superficial mononuclear inflammation and acute neutrophilic inflammation in the gastric antrum and fundus. It progresses to atrophic gastritis with loss of normal mucous glands. This results in the loss of iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc absorption. The loss of mucous glands resulted in the growth of immature glandular and epithelial cells resembling the glands in the small bowel or colon (intestinal metaplasia) which can cause gastric adenocarcinoma through intraepithelial neoplasia. H. pylori infection is the most common form of chronic gastritis. In the beginning, the involvement tends to occur in either an gastric antrum, then progressive spreading to the gastric fundus, where the whole gastric mucosa is involved or with the sparing of certain parts of gastric mucosa. This resulted in the progressive reduced secretion of gastric acid and finally absent gastric acid secretion. The H.pylori infection may fade off in the absence of gastric acid secretion but gastric adenocarcinoma may gradually kick in. The yearly risk of progressing from one step to the next is 2 to 3%. Since 1992, chronic gastritis lesions are classified according to the Sydney system. Several factors are accounted for in diagnosing chronic gastritis. Diagnosis can be based upon: medical history, physical exam, upper GI endoscopy and other tests. During the medical history, a health practitioner will ask the patient about the symptoms experienced and the duration of the symptoms, as well as travels to certain foreign countries. A physical exam may include listening to the patient's stomach. Upper GI endoscopy test is administered by inserting a camera through the patient's mouth and it checks for evidence of bleeding and inflammation in the stomach. Other tests include: a blood test, a stool sample, a urea breath test, or an x-ray. Medications to lessen the acid production of the stomach and to treat the causes of chronic gastritis are prescribed. Excessive acid production weakens the stomach lining. Medications to reduce the effects of acid production on the stomach lining include: antacids, H2 Blockers, and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs).