Peptic Ulcer - A Brief Overview
Have you ever had that gnawing pain somewhere between your breast bone and your belly button? Sometimes worse when you eat, other times worse when you are hungry? So annoying right?? Well, you could have peptic ulcer, and you are most certainly not alone. According to Harvard Health Publishing, 1 in 10 people develop peptic ulcer at some point every year. So it is indeed common, and can affect all ages. What is peptic ulcer? Peptic ulcer, or ulcer as it is commonly referred to, is a break in the lining of the stomach wall. Let's back it up a little bit to give you some context. The stomach is a muscular sac that plays 3 key roles: 1. Serves as a storage for food eaten and releases this food in small bits into the small intestines. 2. Contract and relax to further breakdown the food and to mix the food with the secretions for digestion. 3. The stomach lining produces and secretes digestive enzymes into the stomach to begin the digestive process. As part of these secreti...