Your stomach lining is a remarkably resilient membrane pitted with openings much like that of a sponge. It allows gastric juices as toxic as car battery acid to begin the digestion process.

Peptic ulcer disease occurs when stomach acid penetrates the stomach and/or duodenal lining and causes sores or erosions that may bleed, lead to anemia and/or cause abdominal pain.

An estimated four million Americans have peptic ulcer disease.

Peptic Ulcer Disease

When a type of bacteria called Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infects your stomach lining by living in or on it, it can cause an ulcer, or sore, in the stomach or duodenum, the first part of the small intestine. This ulcer can cause pain or bleeding.

Untreated, the ulcer can literally eat a hole in the stomach lining, requiring surgery. Chronic inflammation from an ulcer can cause swelling and scarring. Over time, this scarring may close (obstruct) the outlet of the stomach, preventing the passage of food and causing vomiting and weight loss. In severe cases, ulcer complications can lead to death.
What Causes Ulcers?

Scientists have recently discovered that most duodenal ulcers are caused by infection, not spicy food or stress. Scientists do not know how the H. pylori bacteria are transmitted, but they know that the bacteria may be spread from person to person.

The second most common cause of ulcers is the use of pain medications called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which include aspirin and ibuprofen. People often take NSAIDs to reduce pain and inflammation, often for arthritis. Frequent or longtime use of NSAIDs, especially among older persons, however, can increase a person’s risk of ulcer.
What are the Symptoms of Peptic Ulcer Disease?

The most common symptom of an ulcer is a burning pain in the stomach, between your breastbone and your belly button. You’ll often feel this pain when your stomach is empty-between meals generally-but it can occur at any time. Sometimes this pain will wake you in the middle of the night. The pain will last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours.

While not as common as stomach pain, other symptoms include nausea, vomiting, blood in the stool, or loss of appetite. Bleeding may be the first and only symptom of an ulcer. When an ulcer bleeds and continues to bleed without treatment, a person may become anemic and weak.

NSAID-induced ulcers are also common and may cause pain, anemia, or bleeding.