Duodenal Ulcer Blog

Stomach Ulcers Sending Fewer Americans to the Hospital

Posted 11 Aug 2010 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 11 – Recent advances in understanding the cause of severe peptic ulcers, along with better treatments, may be driving a decline in their incidence, a new study indicates. From 1998 to 2005, the number of Americans hospitalized for peptic ulcers – sores in the stomach, esophagus or upper small intestine – dropped by 21 percent, reports a team from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the 1980s, scientists discovered that many peptic ulcers were linked with the bacteria Helicobacter pylori, and could be effectively treated with antibiotics. That means that most of the 6 million new cases of stomach ulcers reported annually in the United States are now treated outside of the hospital, the researchers said. "We hypothesized that after the knowledge of the relationship between H. pylori and ulcers became widely known, doctors would prescribe antibiotics ... Read more

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