HOMOEOPATHIC TIPS FOR GASTRITIS



Gastritis is the most common silent disease of the gastrointestinal tract, affecting more than half of the world population. It is well known that H.pylori is the chief etiological agent of chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer, gastric adenocarcinoma, malt lymphoma. Helicobacter pylorus was discovered by Warren and Marshal in 1983. H. pylori has some unique characteristics:

It defied its detection by scientists for centuries.
It survives in the stomach, an organ which is devised by the nature to kill all bacteria.
85% of the population hosts this organism asymptomatically.
It persists in the gastric mucosa for decades.
It does not penetrate the gastric mucosa for decades.
It reduces the risk of oesophagitis, Barrett’s esophagus, esophageal adenocarcinoma, in the infected individual.


Gastritis is defined as an inflammatory response of the gastric mucosa to infections or irritants.
In the histology of normal gastric mucosa, inflammatory cells – neutrophils are spare and lymphoid tissue is absent.



ACUTE GASTRITIS is diagnosed endoscopically in the presence of hyperemia, intermucosal hemorrhages, and erosions in the gastric antrum and/or body mucosa.
Erosions are flat, or elevated white based lesions with an erythematous margin, and are frequently seen in the antrum.
Histology shows marked surface epithelial degeneration and heavy infiltration with neutrophils, but it is rarely performed.



CHRONIC GASTRITIS may be classified as chronic active, non-atrophic (superficial), atrophic and pernicious anaemia.
On histology of the gastric mucosa, there is a predominant increase in the chronic inflammatory cells – lymphocytes, plasma cells and an occasional lymphoid follicle may be present.
Presence of numerous neutrophils indicates activity (chronic active gastritis).

Symptoms:

The vast majority of chronic gastritis patients are asymptomatic. Non colicky pain in upper abdomen within 15 minutes after ingestion of a spicy meal and absence of pain on delaying or omission of a spicy meal are considered suggestive of chronic gastritis. Heaviness in upper abdomen immediately after a meal is also not an uncommon symptom. With a fiberoptic gastroscope a definite diagnosis of chronic gastritis is easy with biopsy from the body mucosa and the antrum. H.pylori causes chronic gastritis in all subjects. H.Pylori colonizes normal antrum and may extend into the body mucosa causing corpus gastritis. Chronic gastritis due to H.pylori slowly progresses over a few decades from the superficial to atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, dysplasia and gastric adenocarcinoma.

H. pylori was earlier responsible for more than 80% of chronic gastritis but its prevalence is decreasing in countries with improved sanitation.



H.PYLORI AND PEPTIC ULCER



DUODENAL ULCER:

The patients. with duodenal ulcer may present with dull aching pain in the epigastrium, occurring daily on an empty stomach or at midnight relieved soon after the ingestion of antacid, milk or non-spicy food. Nearly half of the numbers of patients with typical history of duodenal ulcer do not show any ulcer on endoscopy. The popular multi-factorial theory of stress and spices causing duodenal ulcer, died its natural death, with the discovery of H.pylori in 1983.

A major breakthrough in understanding of the etiology of duodenal ulcer was the discovery of H.pylori in the antral mucosal biopsy of humans, on upper gastrodudenal endoscopy- as; H.pylori is present in the antral mucosal biopsy of >90 % of duodenal ulcer patients., following the eradication of H.pylori from the gastric mucosa, annual duodenal ulcer recurrence reduced to less than 10% compared to 80%. Failure to eradicate H. pylori results in a higher recurrence rate of duodenal ulcer. H. pylori infection of the antral mucosa increases the risk of duodenal ulcer by 3-6 folds.



GASTRIC ULCER:

Pt. with benign gastric ulcer does not have any classical pattern of symptoms for a clinical diagnosis. Pt. may complain of dull aching pain in upper abdomen soon after food intake, nusea, heaviness, heamatemesis or symptoms of anemia.

Benign gastric ulcer is rare in Indian population, it may occur with ch.gastritis due to H.pylori or following ingestion of aspirin or NSAID. H. pylori increases the risk of benign gastric ulcer by 3 folds.



INVESTIGATION

Gastric mucosal Biopsy
Gastric secretion: Acid, Pepsin, Intrinsic factor
Co vita B12 excretion test
Fasting serum pepsinogen,serum gastrin
Parietal cell, intrinsic factor, helicobacter pylori antibody
H.pylori detection : invasive ,non invasive methods


THE HOMOEOPATHIC APPROACH

Abdominal pain and inflammation present difficulties in diagnosis for even the most experienced physician. All cases of dynamic diseases, acute or chronic even when resulting from mechanical or psychological injuries, are amenable to homoeopathy. The homoeopathic medicine works quite well in the treatment of an acute abdomen often averting the need for surgery in many of cases. The problem may range from entrapment of gas, to constipation, perforation of the bowel which results in sever inflammation and sepsis which may result in death. Any acute onset of abdominal pain should be considered a medical emergency.

By carefully applying the law of similars, the physician will observe that all cases of curable dynamic disease are curable with homoeopathy. To achieve this, the physician must be thoroughly familiar with the principles of homoeopathy as taught in the ORGANON and must know how to make the use of materia medica.

Repertories are used as essential links between the patient’s symptoms and the vast materia medica.

Clinical guides such as below mentioned, provide a synopsis of the most characteristic symptoms of the leading remedies in a given condition. Their objective is to give assistance only. While using it one has to be aware of two general drawbacks. One, it may fail because of its incompleteness as only leading remedies in given a given condition can be presented, and the symptomatology of each remedy presented is limited to only the leading characteristic symptoms.

In clinical practice the patient will most of the time present some symptoms that can only be found in a more complete materia medica. Second, there is the inevitable temptation to associate remedies with a given disease. The practice of homoeopathy consists of constant individualization. – The more we understand this science the more we individualize. Frequent follow up to monitor the patient’s condition is a must.



ABIES CANADENSIS:

Gnawing, hungry faint feeling at the epigastrium

Burning and distension of stomach with palpitation

Tendency to eat far beyond the capacity for digestion

Great appetite, craving for meat, pickles, radish, turnips, coarse food

Flatulence disturbs the heart’s action

Wants to lie down all the time



ABIES NIGRA:

Pain in stomach always comes on after eating

Sensation as if a hard-boiled egg had lodged in the cardiac end of stomach

Great craving for food at noon and night

Dyspepsia of the aged, after tea or tobacco

Sour eructation



ACETIC ACID

Constitution – Pale, lean, emaciated persons.

Symptoms relating to GIT indicating hyperacidity – Burning pains as of an ulcer

Cancer of stomach

Sour eructation

Vomits every kind of food

Heartburn and water brash

Hyperchlorhydria

Concomitants – Profuse salivation

Intense burning thirst

Haemorrhage from bowels

ALSO MANY REMEDIES ARS.ALB. , SULPH, CAL.CARB.ETC

thanks.