Although the walls of the stomach are protein, they are not normally disturbed by the fluid. These ulcers can occur in the esophagus, but generally occur in the stomach or small intestine. These ulcers are found in men 4 times as often as in women, and most frequently between 25 and 40 years of age. Duodenal ulcers occur 10 times more often than gastric ulcers. Some are not discovered until the person begins vomiting blood.
Ulcers especially occur during the spring and fall, and tend to run in families.
Many factors affect stomach-acid secretion. Stress and anxiety increase it. When you have stomach pain, drink some lemon juice. If the pain gets worse, you have too much acid in your stomach. Hypoglycemics tend to produce too much HCl and are in danger of eventually having a peptic ulcer.