Gastritis Part-2
What are the symptoms of gastritis?
Surprisingly in many people, gastritis often produces no symptoms and is
diagnosed only when samples of the stomach mucosa are examined for other
suspected diseases. However, when gastritis symptoms occur, the most common
symptoms include
abdominal pain (intermittent or constant burning, gripping or
gnawing pain), often accompanied by
nausea and vomiting and occasionally,
diarrhea. Other symptoms such as
loss of appetite,
bloating, and burping or
belching may occur. These latter symptoms come and go over time especially with
chronic gastritis. Indigestion (
dyspepsia) is another term that encompasses this cluster of
symptoms.
How is gastritis diagnosed?
Gastritis is presumptively diagnosed by the patient's symptoms and history of
a previous diagnosis and treatment of gastritis, alcohol consumption, and use of
NSAIDs. Definitive diagnosis is made by identifying the underlying cause of the
gastric mucosal inflammation and/or by tissue (gastric) biopsy. For example, the
major infective cause of gastritis is
Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). This
bacterium can be detected by breath, blood, stool, immunological and biopsy
tests. Although the bacterium can be cultured from the patient, this is seldom
attempted. Other pathogens can be identified using culture, stool and
immunological tests.
Biopsy of the stomach mucosa, done during
endoscopy
examinations, is often used in patients to identify the causes of chronic
gastritis and may allow visualization of mucosal erosions and other stomach
mucosal changes. Abdominal X-rays or barium studies (
upper
or
lower) may demonstrate the presence
of thickened mucosa and folds that are signs of inflammation in the stomach.
Your doctor can help determine which tests should be done, including ancillary
tests that may help identify other causes of the non-specific symptoms commonly
found with gastritis.
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