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GASTRITIS (Gr. yarn*, stomach)
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See also:GASTRITIS (Gr. See also:yarn*, See also:stomach) , an inflammatory See also:affection of the stomach, of which the See also:condition of See also:catarrh, or irritation of its mucous membrane, is the most frequent and most readily recognized. This may exist in an acute or a chronic See also:form, and depends upon some condition, either See also:local or See also:general, which produces a congested See also:state of the circulation in the walls of the stomach (see See also:DIGESTIVE See also:ORGANS: See also:Pathology). Acute Gastritis may arise from various causes. The most intense forms of inflammation of the stomach are the toxic conditions which follow the swallowing of corrosive poisons, such as strong See also:mineral acids of alkalis which may extensively destroy the mucous membrane. Other non-corrosive poisons cause acute degeneration of the stomach See also:wall (see PolsoNs). Acute inflammatory conditions may be secondary to zymotic diseases such as See also:diphtheria, pyaemia, typhus See also:fever and others. Gastritis is also caused by the ingestion of See also:food which has begun to decompose, or may result from eating unsuitable articles which themselves remain undigested and so excite acute catarrhal conditions. These give rise to the symptoms well known as characterizing an acute " bilious attack," consisting in loss of appetite, sickness or See also:nausea, and headache, frontal or occipital, often accompanied with giddiness. The See also:tongue is furred, the breath foetid, and there is See also:pain or discomfort in the region of the stomach, with sour eructations, and frequently vomiting, first of food and then of bilious See also:matter. An attack of this See also:kind tends to subside in a few days, especially if the exciting cause be removed. Sometimes, however, the symptoms recur with such frequency as to See also:lead to the more serious chronic form of the disease. The treatment bears reference, in the first See also:place, to any known source of irritation, which, if it exist, may be expelled by an emetic or purgative (except in cases due to poisoning). This, however, is seldom necessary, since vomiting is usually See also:present. For the See also:relief of sickness and pain the sucking of See also:ice and See also:counter-irritation over the region of the stomach are of service. Further, remedies which exercise a soothing effect upon an irritable mucous membrane, such as See also:bismuth or weak alkaline fluids, and along with these the use of a See also:light See also:milk See also:diet, are usually sufficient to remove the symptoms. Chronic Gastric Catarrh may result from the acute or may arise independently. It is not infrequently connected with antecedent disease in other organs, such as the lungs, See also:heart, See also:liver or kidneys, and it is especially See also:common in persons addicted to alcoholic excess. In this form the texture of the stomach is more altered than in the acute form, except in the toxic and febrile forms above referred to. It is permanently in a state of congestion, and its mucous membrane and See also:muscular coat undergo thickening and other changes, which markedly affect the See also:function of digestion. The symptoms are those of See also:dyspepsia in an aggravated form (see DYSPEPSIA), of which discomfort and pain after food, with distension and frequently vomiting, are the See also:chief; and the treatment must be conducted in reference to the causes giving rise to it. The careful regulation of the diet, alike as to the amount, the quality, and the intervals between meals, demands See also:special See also:attention. Feeding on artificially soured milk may in ledged efficacy, as are also preparations of See also:pepsin. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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