Health Advice
- Weight Management
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- Acne
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- Aneurysm, abdominal aortic
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- First aid
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- Leukaemia, acute lymphoblastic
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- Addiction
- Addison's disease
- Adenoids and adenoidectomy
- Frozen shoulder
- Agoraphobia
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- Alcohol misuse
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- Alexander technique
- Rhinitis, allergic
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- Mountain sickness
- Alzheimer's disease
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- Amniocentesis
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- Steroid misuse
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- Vitamin B12 or folate deficiency anaemia
- Anaesthesia
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- Angelman syndrome
- Anger management
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- Arteriography
- Stent insertion
- Dog bites
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- Smell sense, loss of
- Antacid medicines
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- Antidepressants
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- Wrist, broken
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- Hearing tests
- Bird flu
- B12 vitamin deficiency
- Skin rashes in babies
- Weaning
- Lumbago (low back pain)
- Septic arthritis
- Halitosis (bad breath)
- Weight loss surgery
- Barium enema
- Bartholin's cyst
- Pressure ulcers
- Bedbugs
- Nocturnal enuresis
- Behçet’s disease
- Facial paralysis
- Tongue pain or soreness
- Prostate enlargement
- Beta-blockers
- Bicarbonate test
- Binge eating
- Biopsy
- Bipolar disorder
- Spider bite
- Eye, black
- Bladder cancer
- Cystitis
- Bladder stones
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- Blood donation
- Blood gases test
- Blood groups
- Coughing up blood
- Semen, bloody
- Urine, blood in the
- Vomiting blood
- Septicaemia
- Hypertension
- Low blood pressure
- Blood tests
- Blood transfusion
- Blushing
- Bromhidrosis (body odour)
- Bone cyst
- DXA scan
- Bone marrow donation
- Stem cell transplant
- Borderline personality disorder
- Bottle feeding
- Botulism
- Rectal cancer
- Polyps, bowel
- Leaky gut syndrome
- Orthodontics
- Brain abscess
- Head injury, severe
- Brain tumour, benign (non-cancerous)
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- Brain tumours
- Breast abscess
- Breast cancer
- Male breast cancer
- Screening for breast cancer
- Nipple discharge
- Mastitis
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- Breastfeeding
- Shortness of breath
- Osteoporosis
- Fractured collarbone
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- Leg, broken
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- Smelly feet (bromodosis)
- Bronchitis
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- Bulimia
- Burns and scalds
- Heart bypass
- Caesarean section
- Food poisoning
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- Thrush
- Thrush, men
- Thrush, oral - adults
- Thrush, oral - babies
- Carbon monoxide poisoning
- Cardiovascular disease
- Cartilage damage
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- Rib, cervical
- Smear test
- Sore lips
- Chemotherapy
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- Chest pain
- Herpes zoster virus
- Statins
- Kidney disease, chronic
- Leukaemia, chronic lymphocytic
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- Cirrhosis
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- Combined contraceptive pill
- Pneumonia
- CT scan
- Concussion
- Hole in the heart
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- Coronary heart disease
- Vegetative state
- Topical corticosteroids
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- Undescended testicles
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- Thyroiditis
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- Fluoride
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- Depression
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- Nutrition
- Rectal examination
- Double vision
- Nummular eczema
- Shoulder dislocation
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- Lightheadedness
- Down's syndrome
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- Periods, painful
- Indigestion
- Swallowing problems
- Dyspraxia (adults)
- Swimmer's ear
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- Ebola virus disease
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- Endoscopy
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- Epidural
- Epilepsy
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- Impotence
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- Ocular cancer
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- Seasonal flu
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- Foot pain
- Frostbite
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- Herpes, genital
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- Tendon repair, hand
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- Nits
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- Heat exhaustion and heatstroke
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- Hernia, femoral
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- Inquest
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- Natural family planning
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- Poisoning
- Reflux in babies
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- Vomiting in children and babies
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- Sleep paralysis
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- Total iron-binding capacity (TIBC or transferrin) test
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- Traction
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- Vitamins, minerals and supplements
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- Warfarin
- Weight loss (unexpected and unplanned)
- Whiplash
- Wisdom tooth removal
- X-ray
- Yellow fever
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Every parent’s heart sinks when they receive the dreaded note from school warning about head lice. Don’t worry – Jane Brennan from Brennan’s Life Pharmacy in Donabate is here to to give us advice and tips. The first thing to do is to check the child’s head. You will need some tea tree conditioner, a... Read more >
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Read moreNHS Choices - Complications of stomach ulcer
(11/11/2013)
The introduction of eradication therapy means that complications of stomach ulcers related to H. pylori infections are now uncommon.
Complications are more common with stomach ulcers associated with the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). This is because these types of ulcers do not always cause obvious symptoms, so are left untreated.
It is estimated that around 1 in 50 people with a NSAID-related stomach ulcer will develop a complication.
Internal bleeding
Internal bleeding is the most common complication of stomach ulcers. Internal bleeding can occur when an ulcer develops at a site of a blood vessel. You are at an increased risk of bleeding if you:
- are on continued use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
- are 60 years old or over
Depending on the location and type of blood vessel, you may have long-term bleeding that could lead to anaemia (where the body has a lack of oxygen-carrying red blood cells).
Symptoms of anaemia include:
- fatigue
- breathlessness
- pale skin
- irregular heartbeats
Alternatively, the bleeding can be rapid and massive, causing you to vomit blood or pass stools that are black and tar-like.
An endoscopy is needed to identify the cause of this sort of internal bleeding. Often bleeding can be stopped by treatment performed through the endoscope.
Injections of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are also given around the site of the bleeding. Lowering the amount of acid around the site is thought to make the blood more likely to clot, which helps stop the bleeding.
Massive bleeding can be treated using blood transfusions to replace any blood loss. Surgery is occasionally needed to repair the blood vessels.
Perforation
A rarer complication of stomach ulcers is the lining of the stomach splitting open (a perforation). It affects around 1 in 350 people with a stomach ulcer.
Perforation can be very serious because it enables the bacteria that live in your stomach to escape and infect the lining of your abdomen (peritoneum). This is known as peritonitis.
The most common symptom of peritonitis is sudden abdominal pain, which gets steadily worse.
In peritonitis, an infection can rapidly spread into the blood (sepsis) before spreading to other organs. This carries the risk of multiple organ failure, and can be fatal if left untreated.
Peritonitis is a medical emergency that requires admission to hospital. Read more about treating peritonitis.
Gastric outlet obstruction
In some cases, an inflamed or scarred stomach ulcer can obstruct the normal passage of food through your digestive system. This is known as gastric outlet obstruction.
Gastric outlet obstruction is relatively uncommon. Each year it affects around 1 in 1,000 people with a stomach ulcer.
Symptoms of gastric outlet obstruction include:
- repeated episodes of vomiting, with large amounts of vomit that contain undigested food
- a persistent feeling of bloating or fullness
- feeling very full after eating less food than usual
- unexplained weight loss
An endoscopy will confirm the type and site of the obstruction. If the obstruction is caused by inflammation, PPIs or H2-receptor antagonists can be used to help reduce it.
If the obstruction is caused by scar tissue, surgery may be needed to treat it, although sometimes it can be treated by passing a small balloon through an endoscope and inflating it to widen the site of the obstruction.
In more severe cases of scarring, it may be necessary to surgically remove the affected section of stomach, before reattaching the remainder of the stomach.