Image via Wikipedia
Yesterday during my outdoor posting i attended an elderly individual presenting with advanced features of
stomach cancer
.He was in a lot of anguish and pain.He presented with vomiting,regurgitation of old food matters and with a lump in the abdomen.Last CT SCAN of the abdomen revealed metastasis to the liver.Thereafter i was thinking of posting the causes of stomach cancer or
gastric
cancer
.The most important causes of stomach cancer are
Consumption of very high concentration of compounds like nitrates that are present predominantly in salted and smoked foods for an extended period of time.
In certain conditions like atrophic gastritis,peptic ulcer surgery like partial gastrectomy,pernicious anemia there is loss of gastric acidity due to destruction of acid producing cells in the stomach.In pernicious anemia an autoimmune gastritis occurs mainly in the fundus portion of the stomach.
Infection with helicobacter pylori or H.Pylori is also an important risk factor.
In individuals with atrophic gastritis,there may be a gradual replacement of the gastric mucosa or the stomach lining cells to intestinal type of cells.This phenomenon is known as intestinal metaplasia.This condition increases the risk of gastric cancer significantly.
Gastric ulcer,gastric polyps,Menetrier's disease have also been incriminated as risk factors.
Other factors that have been implicated in the causation of
cancer of stomach
are cigarette smoking,consumption of spirits and genetic factors.
Tags:
