According to the National Institute of Health, peptic ulcer disease (PUD) affects four million people worldwide annually and has an estimated lifetime prevalence of 5−10% in the general population. Juliet Jacob Ochenje takes an indepth look at the causes, presentation and treatment of ulcer disease in Nigeria.
If you’ve ever had a bout of ulcer pain, you will understand why sufferers often bend over and writhe in agony. The burning sensation and ‘peppery’ feeling in the stomach is one that can only truly be understood by someone who has had an experience of it.
Like Ada Uchendu, an Ulcer patient who shared her experience with African Health Report (AHR). Her voice laden with emotions, she recalled that she was feeling severe pain from her chest down to her back, so bad that she couldn’t sit down properly. She then decided to consult a pharmacist in her neigbourhood on her plight. He diagnosed her of common cold, though not test was carried out, and gave her some medication. But still Ada felt no relief and even began to experience more pains.
Describing the pains she felt, she said: “The pains were so severe that I couldn’t sleep for several nights and I was so weak. I could barely do anything due to the pains.”
When no relief was coming after taking the medicines given to her by the pharmacist, she decided to go to a hospital for proper treatment, where a test was prescribed and revealed that she was suffering from ulcer.
”After the test, I was given some medication and I felt relieved after taking them for some days,” she narrated, sounding like she was still feeling the relief.
She said the doctor advised her to avoid any gaseous drink like carbonated drinks, any food with much pepper, and to always ensure she takes her breakfast early and avoid staying hungry for long periods.
Hereditary, caused by skipping meals, and many more things you need to know about peptic ulcer
Daniel Chidera, a resident of Abuja, also shared her thoughts on ulcer with AHR. She noted that ulcer is hereditary and 70% caused by eating late.
”For example, skipping breakfast till about 6am-3pm consistently, there is a very high tendency that the person will develop Ulcer. When there is already an injury in the stomach, it automatically is ulcer. So, in my opinion, not skipping breakfast, even if it’s taking something as little as tea and a slice of bread in the morning till you have time for a proper lunch, rather than leaving the stomach empty, is advised.
”The most important thing is to ensure that there is something in the stomach for breakfast, rather than leaving it empty. In addition to that, some people opt for carbonated drinks for breakfast, which is equally as dangerous as not eating anything at all when taken into an empty stomach.”
Your painkillers may be responsible for that ulcer pain – Dr. Ikhu-Omoregbe
Dr. Osas Ikhu-Omoregbe of Maitama District Hospital, agreed with David Chidera. When he spoke with AHR on the disease, he explained that ulcer, as it is commonly called, also known as peptic ulcer disease, is a condition that affects the stomach or the duodenum.
Simply put, he continued, ulcer commonly results from loss or erosion of the surface lining of the stomach wall or the duodenum, leading to ulceration, soreness and scaring of the stomach wall or the duodenum.
“The peppery pain and “heart burn” sensation felt as a result of Ulcer occurs when the stomach acidic secretion comes into contact with raw ulcerated stomach surface, or when acidic meal is squeezed against the ulcerated sored portion within the stomach,” he added.
Some of the main causes of Ulcer include indiscriminate use of some pain killers like ibuprofen/ diclofenac, unhealthy eating habits like fasting and breaking fast with acidic unripe fruits or fried food/snacks, and the unavoidable exposure to some pathogenic bacteria organism that causes ulcer or sore in your stomach/ duodenal, Dr. Ikhu-Omoregbe added.
The doctor said ulcer patients may experience dyspepsia, heart burns, bloating, acidic regurgitation, back chest pains and deep seated early morning chest pain.
How To Cure Ulcer Pain
Some of the ways to prevent or relief chronic ulcer include halting “indiscriminate and unprescribed use of pain killers such as ibuprofen, diclofenac, naproxen, aspirin, etc; consumption of plenty of heavily spiced meals containing much of pepper, ginger, consumption of fried meals, especially with frying oils or related materials being used repeatedly to fry food like beans balls (akara), plantains, yam, potatoes, chinchin, etc.
Other meals that put people at risk of having ulcer include beans, okpa, milk, especially in certain adults, moimoi, melon seed soup (egusi), fruits with high acidic content like lime, lemon, cashew and its nuts, etc, because they exacerbate and trigger pains in patients with peptic ulcer, according to the doctor.
“A person with ulcer should take much clear fluid (water), including chewable ice block, when in severe pains. Definitive treatment would only become helpful and feasibly successful if the above preventive measures are adhered to. Nevertheless, combination medical treatments regime have been formulated to
antagonise, modulate, reduce, emulsify, oppose and neutralise the relatively high stomach acidity and secretions,
“kill , eradicate, destroy and control the specific micro organism ( bacteria) that predisposes to peptic Ulcer disease.”
