Ulcer

Ulcer is a common gastrointestinal disorder which is seen among many people .It is basically on inflamed break in the skin or mucous membrane lining the elementary tract. Ulceration occurs when there is a disturbance of normal equilibrium caused by either enhanced aggression or diminished mucosal resistance. It may be occurs due to the regular usage of drugs, irregular food habits, stress and so forth. Peptic ulcers are broad term that includes ulcers of digestive tract in the stomach or the duodenum. The formation of peptic ulcers depends on the presence of acid and peptic activity in gastric juice plus a breakdown of mucosal defenses. A number of synthetic drugs are available to treat ulcers. But these drugs are expensive and are likely to produce more side effect s when in compared to herbal medicines. The ideal aims of treatment of peptic ulcer disease should be to relieve pain, heal the ulcers and delay ulcer recurrence. In this review attempts have been made to know about some common medicinal plants which are being used in ayurvedic or modern science for the treatment or prevention of peptic ulcer and also some natural and easy ways in which available herbs can be used in treatment of ulcers.

The most common cause of stomach ulcer is a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori. Similarly ulcer may caused by over use of pain killers, such as aspirin and non steroidal anti-inflammatory such as ibuprofen, naproxen etc.A peptic ulcer is essentially is a wound that affects the mucous membrane of the digestive tract. Different names are given to ulcers depending on where they are located (gastric ulcers are located in the lining of the stomach , duodenal ulcers are located in the duodenal). Many times in clinical practice we see a lack of digestive enzymes to be the root cause of the ulcer a lack of enzymes can create an imbalanced environment leading to a growth of H.pylori which can infect the mucous membrane. The patho physiology of peptic ulcer disease involves an inbalance between offensive (acid, pepsin, Helicobacter pylori) and defensive factors (mucin, prostaglandin), bicarbonate, nitric oxide and growth factors. Peptic ulcers are once believed to be caused by spicy food and stress; these have been found merely to be aggravating factors and the real cause have been found by research to include bacterial infection (Helicobacter pylori) . The gram-negative bacterium Helicobacter pylori remains present between the gastric epithelium and mucous layer and is strategically designed to live within the aggressive environment of the stomach.

Symptoms

The pain is described to be sharp growing and burning. Depending on the where the ulcer is located the symptoms of ulcer can vary. The symptoms of some peptic ulcer and duodenal ulcer are given below

• Pain can be felt anywhere from the belly button to the breast bone. Sometimes it felt in back.

• The pain can be last from small minutes to several hours.

• Typically a duodenal ulcer elicits more pain when the stomach is empty and it temporarily relived when eating.

• In case of bleeding ulcer accompanied by vomiting or dark to black stool.

• Typically a peptic ulcer is worse during the night or when a person lays down. Prevention.