Chronic gastritis, alcohol, and non-ulcer dyspepsia

Abstract

SUMMARY An investigation of 102 men comprising alcoholics, patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia, and healthy controls is reported. It demonstrates that alcohol is a cause of chronic gastritis and the severity of the mucosal lesion is directly related to the duration of excess drinking. Contrary to popular belief, chronic gastritis does not give rise to symptoms. The effect of alcohol on the gastric mucosa is a direct one and is not mediated by malnutrition, hepatic damage, intestinal malabsorption, anaemia, ascorbic acid deficiency, or any disturbance in immune tolerance.The natural history of chronic gastritis is described, involving an initial hypertrophy and hyperfunction of the gastric mucosa, followed by atrophy and hypofunction.Cigarette smoking is confirmed as another cause of chronic gastritis. The non-ulcer dyspepsia syndrome is unrelated to chronic gastritis.

Chronic (Nonerosive) Gastritis: Pathogenesis and Management

“…In a number of studies of alco holics, chronic gastritis has been reported to be more prevalent than in controls [63,[66][67][68], and in some patients gastritis may par tially reverse following abstinence [68]. On the other hand, Cheli et al [69] found no relationship between alcohol intake and chronic gastritis, which is in agreement with other investigators [19,70].…”

“…Heavy cigarette smoking has been reported to be more common in pa tients with antral gastritis [62,63]. This has been attributed to duodenogastric reflex [64], as smoking may promote this phenom enon [65].…”

Etiology and Management of Chronic Gastritis

“…Alcohol [40], cigarette smoking [41] and low social class [42] have been associated with chronic gastritis. The relationships need to be confirmed, and investigation into the pathogenesis should be rewarding.…”

Investigation of Gastric Emptying Disorders in Patients with Functional Dyspepsia Reveals Impaired Inhibitory Gastric Emptying Regulation in the Early Postcibal Period

“…Although a better understanding of gastric emptying and motility was achieved during investigations of the pathogenesis of nonulcer dyspepsia or functional dyspepsia (FD) [1,2,3,4,5,6,7], the relationship between dyspepsia symptoms and abnormal gastric emptying remains poorly understood.…”