What you don't know about gastritis

Have you ever experienced vomiting blood or ever coughed out something like a dark stool? Ever felt abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and constant hiccups?. Then you might be one of the more than 10% of people who come to a hospital emergency department with gastritis. Gastritis is a common medical problem of the stomach.

However, gastritis is not just one disease but a group of conditions, all of which result in the inflammation of the stomach lining. Inflammation of the stomach means that white blood cells move into the wall of the stomach as a response to an injury to the stomach. Yet other factors such as traumatic injury and regular use of certain pain relievers can also contribute to gastritis.

Cause

Gastritis may be caused by many factors including infection, alcohol, particular medications and some allergic and immune conditions. It can be either acute, with severe attacks lasting a day or two, or chronic, with long term appetite loss or nausea. In many cases, gastritis has no symptoms (asymptomatic). But, common symptoms may include:

Symptoms

Although, many people may not see or notice a symptom, but in others, they may experience this :

Loss of appetite

Nausea and vomiting

Pain areas: in the abdomen or upper abdomen

And others

Treatment

The treatment of gastritis always depend on the cause. Antibiotics and antacids might help.