Nkiru Oinkemelu
peptic ulcers, known as ogbe inu in Yoruba parlance and onya in Igbo, are open wounds in the lining of the stomach and upper portion of the small intestine. People who have peptic ulcers might experience some pain in the upper middle part of the abdomen above the belly button and below the breastbone.
The pain can feel like a heart burn and might go through the back, might be worse at night, might come when the individual’s stomach is empty, can last for minutes or hours and easily subside at the ingestion of antacid but resurfaces after some time.
Peptic ulcers have different degrees: they could be mild or severe, which explains why some people might not come down with noticeable symptoms, while others might be so symptomatic that it leads them in and out of hospital. Either way, health experts have warned that untreated peptic ulcer could lead to complications such as internal bleeding, which can lead to anemia and death, infection of the abdominal cavity and obstruction of passage of food through the digestive tract.
Mrs. Edith Ekpeyong, while recounting her ordeal under the ailment said, she has been in and out of hospital for several years for ulcer related illness. Hers is a severe one, whenever the pains begin, she would roll on the floor and cry uncontrollably like a child. This continued until she was introduced to a herbal that she alleged is helping her deal with the illness.
“Ulcer is not what I can wish even my enemy if there’s any. I have had ulcer for more than 10 years now and it has not been easy, every penny my husband and I make, this ulcer of a thing has been swallowing it to the extent that we don’t even have savings as it is now. But thank goodness for the herbal medicine I am taking right now, it is actually dealing with it and I can feel the result.”
Research has it that there are some science-based home remedies for peptic ulcer. They include probiotics like yoghurt, fermented foods, ginger, turmeric, flavonoids, which can be found in fruits like apples, blueberries, cherries, oranges and lemons, honey, bananas, garlic, and soaking of unripe plantain, which contains flavonoid called leucocyanidin that increases the amount of mucus in the stomach are some of the natural and home remedies for peptic ulcer.
Shedding light on this, consultant public health physician and medical director, Ropheka Medical and Dental Clinic, Dr. Joseph Onigbinde, described peptic ulcer as an open wound along the gastro-intestinal tract that is from the passage of food, down to the intestine.
His words: “Peptic ulcer consists of gastric ulcer, that is ulcer in the stomach; a peptic ulcer that develops in the first part of the small intestine is called a duodenal ulcer by the action of pepsin. Pepsin are enzyme that you secrete to take care of the food, and they are particularly useful when you are talking about digestion of protein, and then acid, while an esophageal ulcer occurs in the lower part of the esophagus.”
It is not known how many people have peptic ulcers, but they are thought to be quite common and can affect people of any age, including children, but mostly occur in people aged 60 and above. Men are more commonly affected than women, said National Health Service (NHS), United Kingdom in a recent report.
Causes and risk factors
Onigbinde explained that first cause of the disease is a particular bacterium called Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori); followed by acid produced in the stomach.
“Acid is normally produced in the stomach but sometimes its becomes excessive, like in some cases when an individual has not eaten and he is drinking alcohol, it causes the stomach to produce acid and when there is no food to work on, it begins to work on the epithelium causing ulcer.
“Aside the above named causes, there are other things known as risk factors. These risk factors are not among the causes but are things that could trigger it and they include: smoking, intake of peppery foods, spices, swallowing drugs such as aspirin, and ibuprofen.”
“Ulcer comes as a result of a chronic irritation of the mucosa; the cells that are lining in the mucosa are various types and they have various shapes so if you have so much irritation, may be as you are smoking cigarette, the cells will start to change from roundish to columned just to able to absorb the shock of smoke so in the process they will change and become diseased, from ulcer, it can lead to cancer of the stomach. That is why in the 80s, there was an increase in the rate cancer in Europe and European countries did a research and found out that people taking spices, the risk of ulcer and cancer is more with them because their epithelium keep adjusting until they become mad.
“People who also take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin, naproxen, ibuprofen, indocid, diclofenac sodium, are also at risk that is why it is dangerous to just swallow analgesics anyhow.
Some of these things are acidic on their own and they are adding more to the acid of the stomach. Sometimes, if you also take some steroid along analgesic, you are also prone to it. Untreated stress also is a risk factor”, he stressed.
Signs and symptoms
Aside from the aforementioned symptoms of abdominal pains, other symptoms of peptic ulcer include: heart burn, bloating, vomiting, nausea, loss of appetite and gastric reflux – when acid from the stomach is trying to come out from the mouth.
Treatment and home remedies
There has been a lot of controversies within the society as to the proper way to treat peptic ulcers, while a school of thought believes that only traditional medicine can adequately treat the illness, another believes otherwise, claiming that the former only scratches the surface as peptic ulcers can only be completely treated with orthodox medicine.
One of the people from the group in support of traditional treatment for this disease is a regular transit drug peddler who claims to have retired from one of the tertiary health institutions in Lagos and owns his own clinic.
This self acclaimed health care provider claims that available orthodox cure for peptic ulcers only helps to put off the pain without eradicating the root only for the pains to resurface after some period of time.
When this so called provider was consulted for the right treatment, he prescribed treatment with unripe plantain.
The transit drug peddler proffering some home remedies said, when you buy unripe plantain worth about N500, peel and dice them, then soak in a bucket that has a lid, turn the mixture and cover it for four days, don’t open the lid until the fourth day, let it ferment well, if you open it before the said time, you will spoil the potency. After the fourth day, open it and stir with something, don’t use your hand because it will be very hot, take one glass morning and night. In two weeks, go for a check-up, you will see that the ulcer has been healed.
However, Onigbinde has debunked the myth that orthodox medicine cannot effectively treat ulcer. He stressed that with the right treatment and adherence to doctor’s prescriptions, peptic ulcers can be treated with orthodox medicines.
“It is not true that ulcer cannot be treated by orthodox medicine; they are propaganda by traditional practitioners and many of them are just charlatans, they don’t have substance in them. Orthodox medicine can treat ulcer but the problem is that patients don’t adhere to adequate treatment procedures.
“There are some treatments that are very good for ulcer and usually most of the time, the treatment of ulcer is combined therapy, depending on the root cause, you combine anti biotic with substance that can relax, then you also have what we call H2 receptor antagonist, these receptor antagonist will block the production of acid. Example of such drugs is omeprazole. Another good development is that there are now combinations of H2 receptor drugs plus antacid and antibiotics.”
Onigbinde further stressed that most of the myth was derived from patients who when they come down with ulcer just buy antacid and chew and they’re relaxed, pointing out that they have not treated it.
“Sometimes, they only appear in the hospital when the pains are severe and never bothered to make other appointments or stick to the doctor’s advice. To adequately treat peptic ulcers, sometimes you have to treat it for a long time uninterrupted even when the symptoms have disappeared you still continue until it heals completely. If it is healed, the pain will disappear; your doctors should be able to examine you to know,” affirmed the specialist.
Going by research, one can say that both arguments are right in their own ways as research has proven that both highlighted methods are effective for treatment of peptic ulcers, although the orthodox might have an upper hand since it has been proven to be a combined treatment. However, the claim of the orthodox cannot be ruled out as some research has backed it up.
According to a research conducted in 2011, plantains are a type of banana which suggests that unripe plantain may have a positive effect on peptic ulcer because it contains a flavonoid called leucocyanidin which increases the amount of mucus in the stomach and reduce acidity, which can help prevent and relief symptoms of ulcer.
Other home remedies for treatment of peptic ulcers include: probiotics like yoghurt, fermented foods. A review from 2014 has it that they may not be able to kill H.pylori bacteria, but they can reduce the amount of bacteria present, speed up healing process and improve some symptoms. Ginger, turmeric, flavonoids which can be found in fruits like apples, blueberries, cherries, oranges and lemons; honey, ripped bananas and garlic, are also not left out.
Prevention
On prevention strategies Onigbinde advised: “If you have infection like H.pylori, quickly treat it before it develops into ulcer, inflammation will be stopped; eat regularly, if you don’t, acid is produced. Acid is supposed to digest food but when there is no food there, it will work on your epithelium but when there is food, it works on it, avoid stress and if you have it, quickly treat it.
However, for those who already have it, the specialist advised that they should avoid foods and drinks that may trigger the pain such as alcohol, spicy foods, coffee and other caffeinated beverages, chilies and hot pepper, deep fried foods, acidic foods like citrus and tomatoes and carbonated beverages and focus on food that will neutralize the acid, give them mucus to add more to the protection of the stomach such as: vegetables, cabbage, blueberries, raspberries, carrots, cherries and probiotic rich foods like yoghurts.
Ulcer and infertility
He also trashed the myth that ulcer affect fertility in women, stressing that their paths are different.
“Usually, it should not stop a woman from conceiving. The path way of ulcer and conception are not the same thing, the baby is not in the stomach, there is a womb separated from the stomach.
“Ulcer cases are in degrees, some are very severe, and some are mild. Somebody who is looking for the fruit of the womb and has not got it can lead to ulcer because she might be deep thinking, and then stressed, then acid will be produced and can lead to ulcer. So it is not the ulcer causing infertility but infertility causing ulcer, so it is the other way round.”
He advised patients to consult their doctor as soon as they have the feeling of pain in the abdomen.
“If you can touch it and there is pain, sometimes fullness of stomach, you have not eaten much and your stomach is full, when you have symptoms or signs of ulcer, you should see your doctor because it can become complicated, apart from pain, it can cause scar tissue, sometimes it can bleed if not arrested on time, it becomes anemia and can lead to death.”