What causes gastritis?
Have you been told you have gastritis, but weren’t given more information about what caused it or what you can do about it?
Listen to The Gut Show episode on this topic on iTunes or Spotify, watch the video below, or keep reading to learn more about what gastritis is, what is known to cause it, and what questions you can ask to better understand how to address it.
What is gastritis?
Gastritis is inflammation of the lining of the stomach. Inflammation is an immune response, so this is typically a response to something else going on, which we will get into later in the article.
Gastritis can be acute or chronic. Acute cases, which happen short term, are typically caused by an infection
Chronic cases, which happen more long term or over a longer period of time, are typically secondary to a cause. Chronic cases may develop gradually and stick around. longer than even the cause.
Chronic cases can be defined as erosive or nonerosive
Erosive means that damage is being caused to the stomach lining. This usually results in ulcers and can progress into peptic ulcer disease, which can cause bleeding and anemia. Scar tissue as a result of the damage or ulcers can also develop and cause narrowing or blockages, which can lead to an obstruction and/or altered gastric motility (aka movement).
Nonerosive means there is irritation to lining of the stomach but no damage. One form of this is atrophic, which causes thinning of the stomach lining and can impact digestion as well as folate and B12 absorption.
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So what actually causes this to happen?
Common causes include:
Infections: the body responds to the threat of the pathogen, leading to inflammation in the stomach. H.pylori is a common infection that correlates with gastritis.
Medications and treatments, NSAIDs (aspirin and ibuprofen), radiation therapy, and chemo: these break down the tissue leading to ulcers and inflammation.
Alcohol and drugs: these increase intestinal permeability, leading to inflammation and tissue damage.
Stress: this can lead to ulcers, which then leads to more damage and inflammation.
Bile reflux: bile from the small intestine can enter the stomach and break down the tissue of the lining, causing damage.
Autoimmune response: this can cause chronic gastritis due to overactive immune response, meaning more inflammation related to perceived threats. This can be isolated to the stomach as in autoimmune gastritis (results in b12, iron, folate deficiency) or be secondary to another autoimmune condition.
The presence of eosinophils, called eosinophilic gastritis: large amounts of these white blood cells in the stomach can damage tissue.
Finding the cause of gastritis by looking at medical and symptom history with your medical team will help you put together a plan to decrease inflammation and reduce risk of damage in your stomach from it.
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