Recognize the Symptoms of Gastritis and the Various Risk Factors

Stomach often feels sore and full can be a symptom of gastritis. Symptoms of gastritis should not be ignored, because if this condition is not treated properly, various complications can arise, from gastric ulcers to gastric cancer.  

Gastritis is an inflammatory condition that occurs in the lining of the stomach. Gastritis is divided into two types, namely acute gastritis that occurs suddenly and chronic gastritis that occurs over a long period of time.

Symptoms of Gastritis

In mild cases, gastritis causes the following symptoms:

  • Often burp
  • Quickly feel full when eating
  • Loss of appetite
  • Bloated
  • Stomach feels hot
  • Weight loss
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Heartburn

Meanwhile, in severe cases, inflammation that occurs in the stomach can erode the lining of the stomach and cause injury or bleeding in this organ. If this happens, some of the symptoms that can appear are:

  • Vomiting blood
  • Black stool
  • Dizzy
  • stomach cramps
  • Hard to breathe

Gastritis Risk Factors

Inflammation of the stomach is most often caused by infection Helicobacter pylori. In addition, the following factors can also increase the risk of gastritis:

Age

The risk of developing gastritis generally increases with age. In women, this condition usually occurs in the age range of 45-64 years. Whereas in men, gastritis is more common over the age of 65 years.

Take painkillers for a long time

Taking pain relievers, such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen, in the long term is believed to trigger acute gastritis and chronic gastritis. Too often take this type of pain reliever medication can erode the mucous layer that plays a role in protecting the stomach wall from acid.

Excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages

Not only pain relievers, too often consuming alcoholic beverages can also irritate and erode the lining of the stomach wall, causing gastritis.

In addition to the three things above, certain habits or diseases can also trigger gastritis. Some of them are:

  • Smoke
  • Stress
  • Drug abuse
  • food allergy
  • Chemotherapy and radiotherapy
  • celiac disease
  • Sarcodiosis
  • Crohn's disease
  • HIV/AIDS

If you experience symptoms of gastritis, consult a doctor so that appropriate treatment can be given. If you have gastritis, improve your diet by changing the portion to eat less but more often. Avoid eating irregularly and in large portions at once. In addition, avoid oily, sour, or spicy foods, so that gastritis symptoms do not get worse.