The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1944-11-29

questions Of general interest
only, and then only through
his column.
sion is those who have strong stom-
achs and those who have weak
stomachs.
The weak stomachs are as SEN
sitive as debutante at her first
party: anything upsets them
strange food, bad news, the slight
est MISUNDERSTANDING goes
to the stomach. They have discom-
fort in that region, they care moth
ing about food, they have no appe-
tite, they look at their tongues in
the mirror.
The ones with strong stomachs
on the other hand can digest any
thing: they really carry it to ex-
cess because not infrequently we
find at autopsy some fellow who
has carried deep large ulcer in
his stomach for years and never
said a word about it.
Use of GastrOscope
1t used to be the fashion 10 say
of the weak stomach group that
they had gastritis, which means
Inflammation Of the stomach wall.
Then for various reasons the term
went out of fashion. Principally
because after death the stomach
rapidly begins to digest itself and
at autopsy people who had that
diagnosis pinned on them were not
found to have any inflammatory
changes in the stomach that could
be demonstrated or seen with the
microscope.
But within the last few years an
instrument called the gastroscope
has been invented, which is a very
ingenious little gadget that has an
electric light on the end of it, can
be swallowed without too much
trouble and through an arrange
ment of mirrors the inside of the
stomach can be inspected. Now in
living stomachs in many instances
of indigestion a gastritis can be
seen, so the term has come back
nto use.
Not Serious Disease
It is not a serious disease, but is
might as we'll be because il makes
its owners very uncomfortable.
They have discomfort after meals,
sometimes even bleed from the
stomach wall, they have gas and
bloating and a sense of fullness
through the entire bowel.
/ In searching for the causes Of
the condition the first thought
would be alcohol, but careful in
vestigation seldom shows this to
be the case. DR.. Seymour Gray was
gastroscopic examiner of 100 alco-
Iholic addicts and found a perfectly
normal appearing stomach in over
half of them and in most of the
rest the changes were surprisingly
mild. Tobacco however, is more
likely to injure the stomach mu-
cosa, especially in the form of
chewing tobacco. Food, or food
habits, did not seem to play an i'm
portant role. The cause of most Of
the cases remained undetected. It
seems that there are people who
are just fated 10 have poor stom-
achs.
The treatment is quite satisfac-
tory if you can keep the person
with the gastritis in a cheerful
frame Of mind. This is, of course,
easier said than done. BY all means
steer him away from surgeons,
from the boy who is over eager TO
show his skill with the knife. Diet
is important more on the grounds
of how often rather than what
they eat. Big meals distend them
and make them gassy and uncom-
Portable so four or FIVE small meals
a day are better than three big
ones. The nutrition is important
and vitamin rich foods should be
selected and also such blood build
ing foods as liver and iron con-
tanning foods-such as eggs. Some
doctors have had success with very
large doses Of Vitamin A.
Few Drugs Used
Drugs do not play much Of
part in the treatment. If there is
spasm a little belladonna now and
then affords relief and depending
on whether the condition is accom-
panied by an increase or a decrease
in the secretions Of the stomach.
substitute gastric juice in the form
of hydrochloric acid and pepsin, or
antiacids in the form Of soda BIZ
carbonate are given.
The principle thing is 10 impress
on the patient that he will get we'll
il he takes a philosophic attitude.