As the saying goes, "Nine out of ten people have stomach problems," which serves as a reminder: as an important digestive organ in the human body, the stomach is susceptible to illness and must be carefully cared for. In reality, however, stomach health is severely neglected. Not only do some elderly patients often take medicine only when they feel stomach pain, but many young people are also unintentionally becoming the "successors" to patients with chronic stomach problems.
With the arrival of summer, protecting the stomach is especially important. What bad daily habits can harm the stomach? What exactly does the stomach "fear"? To this end, a reporter interviewed Tang Zhipeng, the Vice Director of the Spleen and Stomach Disease Research Institute at Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Director of the Department of Gastroenterology at Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
One fear: "Irregular meals"
"Skipping meals" seems to have become a habit for many office workers. However, this unintentional cycle of hunger and satiety will slowly erode stomach health. In recent years, the incidence of functional dyspepsia, gastritis, and gastric ulcers among busy white-collar workers is on the rise.
Director Tang Zhipeng explained that the stomach is an organ that strictly adheres to a "schedule." The secretion of gastric juice has physiological peaks and troughs throughout the day to facilitate timely digestion of food. Without food to neutralize it, gastric acid and pepsin will digest the stomach's own mucosa, causing damage.
Two fear: Overeating at dinner
Forgetting breakfast in a hurry, having a simple lunch, "binge eating" at night, and having a late-night snack before bed—these eating habits often disrupt a healthy digestive system. Director Tang Zhipeng pointed out that, based on the daily calorie intake, the most appropriate proportion should be 30% for breakfast, 40% for lunch, and 30% for dinner.
Overeating at dinner or having a late-night snack not only affects sleep and leads to obesity but also forces the gastrointestinal tract into an overloaded state of "stressful work." Excessive gastric juice secretion can corrode the gastric mucosa, and over the long term, this can lead to diseases such as erosion and ulcers.
Three fear: Unclean diet
During the hot summer season, the reproduction rate of various pathogenic bacteria is very fast, and food can easily spoil and become stale. Eating unclean or stale food can easily cause acute gastritis, with symptoms such as stomach pain, bloating, and vomiting.
Helicobacter pylori is an important pathogenic factor in the development of many chronic stomach diseases, mostly caused by unclean diets and person-to-person transmission. Helicobacter pylori can parasitize in the mucosa of the stomach and duodenum, causing inflammation and triggering stomach diseases. This bacterium also exists in the patient's mouth and saliva, so using a separate meal system can reduce the chance of infection. It is especially important to use a separate meal system when someone in the family has a stomach ulcer or gastritis.
Four fear: Gulping down food
After food enters the stomach, it needs to be stored, ground, and digested before being turned into chyme and reaching the intestine. Developing the good habit of chewing slowly can increase saliva secretion and facilitate better digestion and absorption of food. If food is chewed poorly and gulped down, coarse food will directly wear away the gastric mucosa and increase the burden on the stomach, prolonging the food's stay in the stomach and causing stomach muscle fatigue and reduced gastric motility.
Five fear: Cold exposure
Director Tang Zhipeng pointed out that the stomach is an organ very sensitive to external climate and temperature. When the human body is stimulated by cold air, the stomach is prone to spasmodic contractions, leading to symptoms such as stomach pain, indigestion, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Most people pay attention to keeping warm in the autumn and winter, but what they don't realize is that in the summer, overindulging in cold drinks, cool fruits, or staying in an air-conditioned environment for long periods can also cause the stomach to become cold, thereby affecting gastrointestinal function.
Six fear: Overexertion
Whether engaged in physical or mental labor, long-term overwork can lead to excessive fatigue. This not only lowers the body's resistance but also weakens the defensive function of the gastric mucosa. It can easily cause insufficient blood supply to the stomach, disrupt secretory function, and an excess of stomach acid and reduced mucus can damage the gastric mucosa.
Seven fear: Mental stress
The onset and development of many stomach diseases are closely related to a person's emotions and mental state. When a person is under stress, annoyed, or angry, these negative emotions affect the stomach's secretion, movement, and digestion functions. Therefore, patients who are long-term depressed, anxious, or have experienced psychological trauma are more prone to developing gastric ulcers.
Eight fear: Excessive drinking
Drinking a small amount of red wine daily is beneficial to health. However, excessive drinking not only damages the liver, causes skin dehydration, and kills brain cells but also directly damages the gastric mucosa, causing inflammation, erosion, ulcers, or bleeding. In addition, drinking can delay the healing process of gastric ulcers. Therefore, patients with stomach problems, in particular, should not drink excessively.
Nine fear: Compulsive smoking
Tobacco not only harms the human respiratory system but also does considerable damage to the stomach. People who smoke excessively are more prone to gastritis. This is because nicotine in tobacco damages the gastric mucosa in several ways: it promotes vasoconstriction, reducing blood supply to the gastric mucosa; inhibits the synthesis of prostaglandins, which are protective factors that help repair the gastric mucosa; interferes with the stomach's emptying function, easily causing bile to reflux into the stomach, and components in bile like bile salts are highly damaging to the gastric mucosa; and promotes the secretion of gastric acid and pepsin, directly corroding the gastric mucosa.
Ten fear: Abusing medications
Many drugs can damage the gastric mucosa. For example, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as phenylbutazone, indomethacin, ibuprofen, and aspirin work by inhibiting the synthesis of prostaglandins, which protect the gastric mucosa. Hormone drugs like corticosteroids can also often lead to gastritis, ulcers, or gastric perforation. Therefore, taking these drugs should follow a doctor's advice; it is best to take them after meals, or simultaneously with gastric mucosal protectants such as sucralfate.