What is duodenal ulcer and how can it be prevented?

Ulcer is a common disease nowadays and many have heard of it or suffered from it. But not everybody knows that there are several types of ulcer that affect different parts of the body and that manifest differently. The general definition of ulcer states that ulcer represents an open sore or wound that can appear on protective membranes in the body. Depending on where this lesion appears, ulcer divides into a few types. What we are interested in is the duodenal ulcer, which occurs in the duodenum, or the small intestine. The duodenum connects to the stomach at its upper end, and sometimes a wound appears in the lining of this upper area. This is duodenal ulcer. The same bacteria that causes all kinds of ulcers to appear is guilty for duodenal ulcer too. This bacteria is called heliobacter pylori, and it eats the sensitive lining of the duodenum. Once it has started eating it the stomach's acid and juices that come in contact with the wound also deteriorate it. It has been proven that some types of medicationsquicken the deterioration process and if someone who is suffering from duodenal ulcer is also a drinker and a smoker that things a pretty bad because alcohol and nicotine are enemies of the sensitive tissues that can be found in the duodenum.

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Studies have shown that if someone has a history of duodenal ulcer in the family then the chances for that person to also become ill of this disease are greatly increased, especially in men's case.

The symptoms that duodenal ulcer presents are quite similar to the symptoms of most ulcers : pain in the stomach, heartburn and burning sensations in the throat area, indigestion after eating and in some cases severe pain in the stomach during the night. But if duodenal ulcer is left untreated then the danger greatly increases because it turns into a bleeding duodenal ulcer, a severe condition with life-threatening complications. The symptoms of bleeding duodenal ulcer are vomiting, and the vomit contains blood in it, and black loose stools.

If you have experienced any of the symptoms above visit your local doctor and ask for a diagnose. Duodenal ulcer can be detected by a thorough medical examination that involves a special x-ray tehnique, or by an endoscopy, a procedure that allows the doctor to look inside a pacient's digestive tract.

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Once it's discovered the treatment that follows is very simple, it involves taking a few different types of medication order to eliminate the H pylori bacteria and protect the sensitive lining of the duodenum from further damage. In a small number of cases where severe complications of bleeding ulcer appeared surgery was required but this can only happen if you leave the disease untreated. So if you have reached the middle-age and you have a stressful lifestyle and you also eat spicy food it's recommended that you periodically visit your doctor so that any sign of ulcer is discovered and eliminated early.