As the saying goes: nine out of ten people have stomach problems, which shows the high incidence and prevalence of stomach diseases.

Especially with the change of lifestyle and the acceleration of life rhythm, people are facing increasing work pressure, staying up late to work overtime for a long time, emotional anxiety, and bad eating habits, all of which have created opportunities for the occurrence of stomach problems.

According to the statistics of the World Health Organization, 80 % of people suffer from stomach discomfort, and the incidence tends to be younger [1]. According to the latest data from the Chinese Medical Doctor Association and the Chinese Medical Association in 2022, 67% of doctors observed that the proportion of patients aged 23-34 has increased in recent years, and this proportion is higher in first-tier cities.

Why are stomach diseases so high in modern people? How did the young man's stomach collapse step by step?

The high incidence of stomach diseases in young people, the three habits are the bane

Most people's stomach diseases are caused by themselves, and are closely related to irregular diet, heavy-taste diet, and bad emotions.

1. Irregular diet

"Don't eat breakfast, eat indiscriminately at noon, and eat too much at night" is a portrayal of the lives of many young people today. Whether you eat breakfast or not depends on what time you get up, lunch depends on whether you are hungry, dinner depends on your get off work time, and you have a late-night snack when you stay up late. Frequently hungry and full will naturally hurt the stomach, and often staying up late and eating too late is not conducive to gastrointestinal motility and affects digestion.

2. Heavy taste diet

Young people drink coffee, milk tea, iced drinks, smoking and drinking for a long time, hot pot, barbecue, and spicy food are more desirable. However, these high-oil, high-salt, high-fat, too cold or too hot food with heavy taste will stimulate or even damage gastric mucosa, thereby affecting gastric health.

3. Bad mood

Stomach disease is not entirely caused by eating, and bad emotions stimulate the stomach as much as dietary factors. Mental stress, anxiety, and tension will trigger abnormal stomach function through the brain's neural reflex mechanism, resulting in chronic stomach disease.

The above-mentioned bad living habits have paved the way for the occurrence of gastric diseases, among which chronic gastritis is the most common, and the incidence rate in China is as high as 50% [2]. Many people have more or less symptoms of chronic gastritis, but they often delay treatment because they do not understand its specific manifestations, which leads to the failure to detect it in time.

When the body shows these 3 symptoms, it may be that the stomach is calling for help

Chronic gastritis refers to various chronic gastric mucosal inflammatory lesions caused by different etiologies. Due to the lack of specific symptoms in the early stage, many patients are not easily aware of it.

Stomach pain: It is often manifested as irregular upper abdominal pain and dull pain, especially after meals. Eating irritating food will induce and aggravate the pain.

Stomach bloating: Even if you eat very little food, even on an empty stomach, your stomach will feel full; if you have poor digestion, your stomach will feel blocked, and you will experience belching and hiccups.

Acid regurgitation and heartburn: Excessive secretion of gastric acid stimulates the gastric mucosa to cause pantothenic acid, which may cause reflux in severe cases; often feel a burning pain in the location of the heart.

In addition, many patients also have symptoms of nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite. In life, everyone should be vigilant about the abnormality of their own bodies. Once the above symptoms appear in the stomach, they should be checked and treated in time.

Stomach pain "endure for a while" is over? need aggressive treatment

Many people, relying on their youth, feel that stomach pain is no big deal, and they can endure it for a while, but this often leads to minor illnesses turning into serious illnesses. If chronic gastritis is not treated for a long time, it will cause further damage to the body, and may develop into gastric mucosal erosion, gastric ulcer, gastric bleeding, etc. If neglected for a long time without interventional treatment, it may even lead to gastric cancer.

The early stage of chronic gastritis is superficial gastritis, which has relatively mild symptoms and can be cured with scientific treatment. However, if it is not treated in time or allowed to develop, it may develop into a relatively serious chronic atrophic gastritis, which is listed as a precancerous disease of gastric cancer by the World Health Organization. It is currently believed that the evolution of gastric cancer from chronic gastritis is as follows: chronic superficial gastritis - chronic atrophic gastritis - intestinal metaplasia - dysplasia - early gastric cancer [4].

Although the process from chronic gastritis to gastric cancer seems to have only four steps, in fact, the probability of chronic gastritis canceration is extremely low. As long as we actively prevent and treat it, we can avoid the risk of developing gastric cancer [ 5].

Treating chronic gastritis, it's important to do them well

The process of chronic gastritis treatment is long and easy to repeat. Therefore, whether it is in improving living habits or in treatment, patience is required.

1. Improve your lifestyle

Stomach disease pays attention to "three-point governance and seven-point nourishment". Changes in eating habits, emotional management and other lifestyle adjustments are the keys to preventing and treating stomach diseases.

In terms of diet, it is necessary to ensure the regularity of three meals, eat as lightly as possible, avoid strong tea and coffee, eat less irritating food such as cold, greasy, and spicy food, quit drinking and smoking, avoid staying up late, sitting for a long time, etc. Secondly, the diet should be nutritionally balanced. It is recommended to eat more whole grains, fresh vegetables and fruits to ensure the intake of dietary fiber, minerals and vitamins to promote digestion and absorption [6].

In life, you must also be good at managing your emotions and keep your mood happy. In addition, proper exercise will not only help promote gastrointestinal motility, help digestion, but also release bad emotions.

2. Medication

When patients with chronic gastritis usually have uncomfortable symptoms, they can go to the pharmacy to buy gastric medicines such as aluminum magnesium carbonate under the guidance of doctors for treatment, which can quickly neutralize gastric acid and relieve various gastric discomfort symptoms. However, relief or disappearance of symptoms does not mean a cure. Because chronic gastritis is easy to repeat, the temporarily recovered mucosal epithelium is relatively fragile and has poor resistance, and requires the continuous action of gastric mucosal protective agents. In addition to quickly relieving gastric acid damage to the mucosa, magnesium aluminum carbonate can also form a layer of protection on the mucosal surface. It can resist the erosion of gastric acid and pepsin, promote the repair and healing of mucosal epithelium, and protect the gastric mucosa for a long time, thereby treating gastric mucosal injury [7]. Therefore, patients with chronic gastritis must take a sufficient amount of medication for a full course of treatment.

Remember, stomach diseases are the most afraid of "forbearance". If they have not improved after drug treatment and adjustment of diet, they should go to a regular hospital for treatment in time.

> > References: >

> > 1. How to fight the "stomach protection battle" for office workers, Friends of Science, 2017, (8): 68-69 >

> > 2. White Paper on Health Popularization of Common Digestive System Diseases in China. >

> > 3. Digestive Disease Branch of Chinese Medical Association. Consensus opinion on chronic gastritis in China (2017, Shanghai) [J]. Chinese Journal of Digestive Medicine, 2017, 37(11):721-738. >

> > 4. Fang Jingyuan, Chen Yingxuan, Gao Qinyan. Pay attention to the early warning, early diagnosis and prevention of chronic atrophic gastritis and carcinogenesis. Chinese Journal of Digestive Medicine. 2018.38(3): 145-147. >

> > 5. Wang Guanting. Research progress on the mechanism and reversal of precancerous lesions of gastric cancer [J]. World Chinese Journal of Digestion, 2000, 8(1): 1-4. >

> > 6. Hong Wenjun. The influence of unhealthy lifestyle on the pathogenesis of chronic gastritis[J]. International Journal of Digestive Diseases, 2007, 27(5): 392-392. >

> > 7 Wu Guirong, Lei Ruixiong, Li Lijuan, et al. Observation on the efficacy of aluminum magnesium carbonate in the treatment of bile reflux gastritis [J]. Chinese Medicine Guide, 2012(13):112-113. >