What causes heartburn and acid reflux? Be alert to gastric cancer!

People say that a healthy stomach means a healthy body, and this has certain scientific basis. In daily life, we often see some people who never gain weight no matter how much they eat. Most of these people may have poor spleen and stomach. Heartburn and acid reflux are common symptoms for many patients with stomach problems. In most cases, heartburn and acid reflux occur when eating too much or too quickly. Many people do not pay much attention to stomach problems, which can lead to minor illnesses turning into stomach cancer over a long period of time if not taken seriously, seriously affecting the patient's life safety. Here I would like to remind all friends that when you experience symptoms such as heartburn and acid reflux, you must take it seriously and go to a regular hospital to receive scientific and effective treatment to prevent cancer.

Gastric cancer must develop from minor stomach problems over a period of 10 or 20 years, and heartburn and acid reflux are the early signs of gastric cancer that are most easily overlooked.

Symptoms of stomach cancer:

1. Heartburn

Heartburn generally refers to the area below the sternum, which is what we often call the "pit of the heart". It feels like there is a fire burning, and it is a burning sensation. This is mainly because the food in the stomach "runs" into the esophagus. The stomach secretes gastric acid, so the contents of the stomach are acidic, while the esophagus is alkaline. When acidic substances "run" into the esophagus, they will corrode the esophageal mucosa, just like a fire burning in the heart. This is what we call heartburn.

Heartburn usually has two causes:

One is eating too much. When the stomach cannot hold so much food, it will cause food to reflux into the esophagus, causing heartburn;

The second is that eating sweet, spicy and other irritating foods frequently causes excessive secretion of gastric acid. In addition to corroding the stomach, excessive stomach acid can also cause the contents of the stomach to reflux into the esophagus, causing heartburn and acid reflux. This means that your esophagus will also be corroded by stomach acid. Therefore, people who have heartburn and acid reflux symptoms for a long time are not only prone to problems in the stomach, but also some inflammation in the esophagus.

2. Angina

Secondly, some middle-aged and elderly people aged 40 to 60 have chest pain symptoms similar to angina pectoris at night or in the early morning, and the pain is located in the chest area. It may also be caused by food reflux into the esophagus, which irritates the mucosa and causes pain. Therefore, if you encounter a patient with angina pectoris and the heart examination shows no problems, you should consider taking the patient to the gastroenterology department for a check-up, as there may be problems with the stomach.

3. Anemia

In addition, there is a more hidden sign of stomach cancer, which we would not even associate with stomach disease, and that is anemia. For people with gastric cancer, the tumor damages blood vessels and causes gastric bleeding. Some people will have symptoms of vomiting blood, which is the main cause of anemia. How do we determine whether we are anemic? It's very simple. First, look at the complexion. People with anemia have pale or yellow complexions. Second, look at the fundus. People with anemia have white fundus and no red capillaries can be seen. Third, look at the nails. Normal people’s nails are pink, while those of people with anemia will have white complexions, which are the same white that appears after pressing.

Finally, when judging the symptoms of gastric cancer, anemia often exists at the same time as black stools. Black stools are tarry, which we also call tarry stools. This is because the cells in a normal stomach complete a process of shedding and regeneration in 2 to 4 days. The same is true for cancer cells. These shed cells will be excreted from the body, but cancer cells also have blood vessels, so people with stomach cancer often have black stools.

Symptomatic

Changing your lifestyle is an important way to prevent heartburn and acid reflux.

1. We must avoid overeating. "Eating too much" will naturally induce food reflux and cause heartburn.

2. Stand and walk around appropriately after meals, and do not eat before going to bed. Again, avoid eating irritating foods. Stimulating drinks will stimulate excessive secretion of gastric acid and cause damage to the stomach. For example, white wine, if the alcohol concentration exceeds 10°, will cause varying degrees of damage to the gastric mucosa; strong tea and strong coffee can also stimulate the production of gastric acid, and at the same time cause blood vessels to constrict. Long-term gastric contraction will lead to ischemia, making it impossible for components that can protect the stomach to reach the stomach, causing it to lose its protective effect.