What are Stomach Ulcers?
Stomach ulcers are also known as gastric ulcers, and they are a type of peptic ulcer disease, a medical category that encompasses all kinds of ulcers whose symptoms affect the small intestines and the stomach. Around 10% of the world population is experiencing this disease during their lifetime, however as medical advances were made, it can be easily cured; however, it remains threatening if adequate treatment is not followed and it develops into its severe forms.
Stomach ulcers manifest in the stomach lining in the form of painful sores. At a glance, the inner workings of the stomach include the production and secretion of powerful acids that play a key role in digesting food and protecting the organism from bacteria and microbes. In the human body, around 2-3 liters of gastric fluids are discharged daily, their composition being 99% water and another key 1% made of organic and inorganic substances, enzymes, and mucus playing a part in decomposing all the foods we consume.
In order to protect the gastric tissue, a thick mucus is also produced and secreted, acting as a shield layer inside the stomach. If, for any reason, the layer starts thinning down, these strong gastric juices directly attack and deteriorate the stomach lining itself, entering a process known as auto-digestion and causing what is medically referred to as stomach ulcers.