Health and Fitness – Fitness Made Easy

If  you suspect that you have an ulcer ( the main symptoms is a dull,  gnawing ache in the stomach that occurs  2  or  3  hours after a meal or in the middle of  the night,  comes and goes for several  days a week or weeks,  and is relieved by food),  you need to see a doctor.

If you’ve been diagnosed with an ulcer,  and you start having sharp,  persistent stomach pain,  black and bloody stools,  or  vomit  that  is  bloody or looks  like  coffee  grounds,  you probably have a bleeding ulcer or a perforation in the stomach or duodenum.  This is an emergency;  see a doctor immediately.

Most alternative practitioners agree the best treatment for a peptic ulcers is ….antibiotics.

Many practitioners avoid using antibiotics as they as these drugs destroy the helpful bacteria the colon,  causing all sorts of digestive difficulties.

Nevertheless,  both conventional and alternative doctors agree that using antibiotics is the best way to kill  Helicobacter  pylori.  This common bacterium causes  70%   of peptic ulcers,  which are painful sores in the lining of the stomach or duodenum  ( the section of small intestine right next to the stomach).

Ulcers must be treated.   Along with pain,  they can cause weight loss,  bloating,  burping,  and nausea.  Some ulcers bleed.  Others cause a perforation,  or hole,  that goes right through the stomach or intestine.

Once a doctor determine that an ulcer is caused by H. pylori infection,  a diagnosis  that’s  made with a blood test that shows the H.pylori antigen and with a tissue sample taken from the stomach,  they can quickly and effectively cure the problem by prescribing a week or two of antibiotic therapy.  They’ll usually accompany the antibiotics with a bismuth sub -salicylic or other acid-controlling drugs to protect the stomach lining.  This therapy cures the ulcer and prevents recurrence in  90%  of people.  That’s a very successful cure rate by any standard.

That doesn’t mean,  however,  that alternative home remedies aren’t important in the treatment of ulcers.  You can use them following your course of antibiotics to help the stomach and duodenum heal and to help keep ulcers from coming back.  You can also use them to minimize the side affects during treatment.

Also,  if your ulcer isn’t caused by H.pylori,  these remedies can be more effective at controlling symptoms and healing the problem than prescription or over the counter acid- blocking drugs.

FISH OIL AND CORN OIL:  Help Keep Ulcers from Coming Back.

One scientific study found that corn oil can inhibit the growth of  H.pylori bacteria.  Diets rich in these oils may help reduce ulcers recurrence.

You can get enough of these oils just by cooking with corn oil and using it in salad dressings and by having two or three servings of fish a weeks.

If you don’t like fish,  you can take a fish-oil  supplement.

HIGH-FIBRE FOODS:  Get as many as You Can

Increase your intake of dietary fibre can help prevent ulcer recurrences.   Food such as apples,  oat bran,  broccoli,  Brussels sprouts,  cabbage,  carrots,  whole- grain breads and cereals,  and green leafy vegetables all supply plenty of fibre or you can take a fibre supplement such as Antioxidant  supreme.

DGL:  More Powerful Than Medication

Deglycyrrhizinated  licorice  is a  form of licorice from which the compound glycyrrhizic acid,  which can cause high blood pressure,  has been removed.  Scientific studies have shown that it is more effective than some over the counter anti-ulcer medications at controlling the symptoms of a peptic ulcer.

GLUTAMINE:   The Healing Secret of Cabbage Juice

Cabbage juice is considered a traditional folk remedy that can help peptic ulcers heal–but the taste of the juice is vile,  Fortunately,  the ulcer- healing compound in the juice is available in supplement form.

One of the active ingredients is glut-amine,  an amino acid that nourishes and repairs the lining of the digestive tract.

Roberto Garcia (Health and Fitness Specialist)
http://www.newhealthandfitnessdvds.co.uk

Specialist provider of Health and Fitness information and products including: DVDs and Supplements.

Tags: Antioxidants, bloating, Burping, glutamaine, Nausea, Stomach pain, Ulcer

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 at 2:03 pm and is filed under Medical, Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.