What really causes gastritis and peptic ulcers?
Traditionally, it has been thought that lifestyle factors, such as alcohol abuse, physical and emotional stress, unhealthy eating habits and smoking, cause peptic ulcers and gastritis. This approach to the pathogenesis of peptic ulcers/gastritis has been based on many centuries of practical observation and treatment of ulcer and gastritis patients, and is still upheld by many practicing physicians today. However, in recent years, a popular point of view (which has started to acquire the all-too-familiar features of an official dogma) is that peptic ulcers and gastritis may be caused by bacteria called Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). This theory validates the use of a combination of potent antibiotics and acid-suppressing drugs (also called histamine blockers or proton pump inhibitors) to “treat” ulcers, and is now enthusiastically endorsed by the official medical and pharmaceutical establishment, which has previously ridiculed it for quite a long time after H. pylori was discovered in
Traditionally, it has been thought that lifestyle factors, such as alcohol abuse, physical and emotional stress, unhealthy eating habits and smoking, cause peptic ulcers and gastritis. This approach to the pathogenesis of peptic ulcers/gastritis has been based on many centuries of practical observation and treatment of ulcer and gastritis patients, and is still upheld by many practicing physicians today. However, in recent years, a popular point of view (which has started to acquire the all-too-familiar features of an official dogma) is that peptic ulcers and gastritis may be caused by bacteria called Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). This theory validates the use of a combination of potent antibiotics and acid-suppressing drugs (also called histamine blockers or proton pump inhibitors) to “treat” ulcers, and is now enthusiastically endorsed by the official medical and pharmaceutical establishment, which has previously ridiculed it for quite a long time after H. pylori was discovered in
