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Ulcers -- For what it's worth
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| Billy Boy 2006-10-09, 4:24 pm |
| Anti-ulcer herb
October 9, 2005
Advanced Natural Medicine Bulletin
**********************************
Dear Friend,
In college, I had a friend named Pete who suffered from an ulcer. Whenever we would go out
to eat, poor Pete got ribbed because, unlike most college students who load up sodas and
burgers, he would head straight for the milk. Back in those days, doctors believed that
the only way to manage an ulcer was with a steady diet of dairy. But now, doctors have an
arsenal of prescription drugs to treat the 20 million Americans who will develop an ulcer
sometime in their lives. But are pharmaceuticals the answer? Before you reach for the
Tums, let’s look at what’s really going on down there.
Ulcers develop when an imbalance occurs between the digestive juices and the body’s
defense mechanisms, allowing acid and enzymes like pepsin to attack the stomach lining
itself. In severe cases, the lining is eroded to the point of becoming perforated – in
other words, a hole is formed in the stomach wall, enabling partially digested food and
bacteria to spill into the sterile abdominal cavity. That can lead to hemorrhaging from
the erosion of a major blood vessel or to obstruction of the gastrointestinal tract.
Ulcers that form where the stomach and the small intestine meet can swell and scar,
forming an obstruction which blocks the intestinal opening.
-------------------
Got the bug?
-------------------
One of the most common causes of ulcers is a bacterium known as Helicobacter pylori.
Because of its corkscrew shape, H. pylori can penetrate the stomach’s protective mucus
coating and attach itself to the stomach lining. Although most bacteria can’t survive the
stomach’s harsh acidic environment, scientists believe that H. pylori thrives by producing
urease, an enzyme that neutralizes acid. They also know that H. pylori creates toxins that
promote inflammation and damage to the stomach lining. But that doesn’t explain why, even
though more than half of all adults carry the H. pylori bacteria by the time they are
sixty, only one in six develops an ulcer. But a brand new study in the journal Science
thinks it may have found the answer. It seems that there’s more than one type of H. pylori
bacteria – some benign, some not. In the study, the researchers from Stanford University
found that one particular form of the bug disrupts the junctions between the cells that
make up the protective stomach lining. Disrupting these junctions may prevent the body
from repairing damage in the stomach when it occurs, allowing a relatively minor problem
to eventually turn into an ulcer.
Regardless of how H. pylori works, because it’s a bacteria, most doctors rely on
antibiotics and antacids as a first line of defense. Yet a study of 276 duodenal ulcer
patients by the Glostrup university Hospital in Denmark found that a quarter of the
patients didn’t respond to the drug therapy. Another study by Spanish researchers also
found that antibiotics often fail to eradicate H. pylori, leading some doctors to
speculate that the bacteria may only account for half of all ulcers.
---------------------------------
The NSAID connection
---------------------------------
If you are in the 50 percent who don’t harbor H. pylori, you may have unwittingly set
yourself up for an ulcer anyway. I’d always heard jokes about how stress can lead to an
ulcer and wondered if it was true. To get the answer, I called John Foster, MD, of Thomas
Jefferson university Hospital in Philadelphia. He said that, while stress could make an
ulcer worse, it usually wasn’t the primary cause. Instead, Dr. Foster pointed to the
second leading cause of ulcers – aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
(NSAIDs). NSAIDs reduce pain and inflammation by blocking cyclooxygenase, an enzyme
involved in the production of prostaglandins (hormone-like substances that modulate the
biochemical activity of some tissues). Although these drugs might provide temporary relief
from arthritis or a headache, Dr. Foster said that long-term use of NSAIDs, even the
buffered varieties, can throw the stomach’s defense system out of whack, making it
vulnerable to the harmful effects of acid and pepsin. Worse yet, a study of 132 patients
with bleeding ulcers by the Division of Gastroenterology at the university Hospital in
Nottingham, England, found that NSAID users infected with H. pylori nearly doubled their
risk of developing a bleeding ulcer compared with those not infected with the bacteria.
Dr. Foster also noted that bad habits can bring on or exacerbate an ulcer. “Caffeine
stimulates gastric acid secretions,” he says. “Coffee, tea and caffeinated soft drinks can
increase susceptibility to the H. pylori bacteria.” Alcohol is something else you may want
to steer clear of if you have an ulcer since, even in moderate amounts; it intensifies the
risk of bleeding. And, as if cigarettes didn’t have enough going against them, several
studies have linked smoking with slower healing and more frequent relapses. What’s more, a
study by the university of Hong Kong, China, found that exposure to cigarette smoke
reduced the amount of gastric mucus – so if you’ve got an ulcer, it’s probably good to
avoid secondhand smoke.
---------------------------------
Natural neutralizers
---------------------------------
Short of resorting to conventional medicine's “A” team – antacids and antibiotics – there
are steps you can take to ease the pain and perhaps even heal an ulcer. Long before Zantac
and Pepcid burst onto the scene, herbalists relied on plants to treat ulcers. The most
well known anti-ulcer herb is licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) – and with good reason.
Studies show that licorice is as effective as many pharmaceuticals for treating peptic
ulcers because it not only relieves pain, it promotes healing and guards against
recurrence. But, since ordinary licorice root can raise blood pressure if used on a
long-term basis, Dr. Foster recommends using a safe and effective form of the herb known
as deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL).
To soothe inflamed stomach tissue, Dr. Foster also recommends drinking 3 or 4 cups of
chamomile (Matricaria recutita) tea a day. “Chamomile is a calming stomach tonic that
bathes inflamed tissue,” he says. Studies have shown that chamomile exerts
anti-inflammatory, antipeptic and antispasmodic activity on the stomach and duodenum.
If you’re battling H. pylori and you either can’t or don’t want to take antibiotics, try
cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum). While it may sound strange, a recent study by Bnai Zion
Medical Center in Haifa, Israel, found that cinnamon, combined with other antimicrobials,
may help eradicate the bug. An earlier study found that cinnamon alone completely
inhibited the bacteria.
Another herb that may help stop H. pylori in its tracks is mastic gum (Pistacia
lentiscus). A resin derived from a relative of the pistachio tree, mastic gum has been
used to cure gastric aliments for more than 3,000 years. Today, researchers are
rediscovering its curative powers. A study of mastic gum by researchers at England’s
Nottingham university found that doses as low as 1,000 mg. a day can cure peptic ulcers in
just two weeks. Apparently the gum causes structural changes within the bacterium's cell
structure, causing it to weaken and die. What’s more, the study found that mastic protects
cells and inhibits acid secretions.
Cabbage juice has gained an almost legendary reputation among ulcer sufferers. In fact,
many herbalists suggest drinking two full glasses of fresh cabbage juice a day to soothe
an ulcer. The reason it works is because cabbage is naturally high in the amino acid
glutamine. Two studies by the Dunn Clinical Nutrition Center in Cambridge, England, have
found that glutamine is essential to supporting a healthy mucus layer in the stomach and
intestines. While drinking a daily dose of cabbage juice doesn’t sound very appealing to
me, Dr. Foster says that you can get the same affect by taking 500 mg. of supplemental
L-glutamine a day.
Billy Boy
To reply correct [at] and [dot]
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| Howard McCollister 2006-10-09, 4:24 pm |
| An aptly titled thread.
HMc
"Billy Boy" <billyboy[at]comcast[dot]net> wrote in message
news:59oki29nvqdvgb64ieqg3eo1965obet8ql@4ax.com...
> Anti-ulcer herb
>
>
>
> October 9, 2005
>
>
>
> Advanced Natural Medicine Bulletin
>
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| Howard,
I was thinking about this yesterday and probably the day before yesterday as
I read your posts and just wanted to voice it. I, for one, am very pleased
that we have a doctor looking after us at this newsgroup.
I wish that we had someone like yourself at the Crohns-Colitis group because
we receive more than our fair share of the misinformed maintaining that
tincture of something or other, or some nutritional supplement will cure all
our ills. We also have frequent visitors from the "pharmaceutical companies
conspire to make everybody sicker than they would be otherwise be - and
natural products are the answer - brigade".
I realise that this is not something that you have to do and just wanted to
express my appreciation.
Vanny
"Howard McCollister" <nospam@nospam.net> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:452a6545$0$54841$bb4e3ad8@newscene.com...
> An aptly titled thread.
>
> HMc
>
>
> "Billy Boy" <billyboy[at]comcast[dot]net> wrote in message
> news:59oki29nvqdvgb64ieqg3eo1965obet8ql@4ax.com...
>
>
| |
| Howard McCollister 2006-10-09, 4:24 pm |
|
"Vanny" <Vannyss@antispam.com> wrote in message
news:egdvub$7jt$1@newsreader2.netcologne.de...
> Howard,
>
> I was thinking about this yesterday and probably the day before yesterday
> as I read your posts and just wanted to voice it. I, for one, am very
> pleased that we have a doctor looking after us at this newsgroup.
>
> I wish that we had someone like yourself at the Crohns-Colitis group
> because we receive more than our fair share of the misinformed maintaining
> that tincture of something or other, or some nutritional supplement will
> cure all our ills. We also have frequent visitors from the "pharmaceutical
> companies conspire to make everybody sicker than they would be otherwise
> be - and natural products are the answer - brigade".
>
> I realise that this is not something that you have to do and just wanted
> to express my appreciation.
>
> Vanny
>
You're welcome, Vanny. There is a indeed a lot of misinformation posted all
over Usenet. I'm pleased to be able to provide an allopathic point of new.
HMc
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