[Health 1+1]4 major risk factors to understand and stay away from gastric cancer | gastritis | flatulence | gastric cancer screening

Is flatulence also a sign of stomach cancer? Can gastritis turn into stomach cancer?

[Epoch Times, September 14, 2022]Mr. Huang, 53, who lives in Taiwan, works as a department manager in a well-known foreign company.Recently he discovered that he was indigestion and hadBloating, obviously feel uncomfortable, and even have a little difficulty swallowing.After gastroscopy, the patient was diagnosed withstomach cancerAt the same time, the stomach was found to have Helicobacter pylori infection.

Flatulence, everyone seems to have a little bit, so is flatulence?stomach cancersigns? What are the risk factors for gastric cancer and can it be prevented? 90% of gastric cancer patients have been infected with Helicobacter pylori, how to prevent it? What are the symptoms of stomach cancer? The most common gastric cancer screening tool? What are the latest detection and treatment methods for gastric cancer?[Health 1+1]Dr. Wang Chaoyang, clinical assistant professor at Cornell University School of Medicine, and Zev Wainberg, MD, co-director of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Program at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), were invited to explain them one by one.

Q: The current incidence of gastric cancer in the world?

Answer: East Asia has the highest incidence and mortality of gastric cancer. The world’s highest incidence of gastric cancer is South Korea, Japan is the third, and mainland China is also in the forefront. Therefore, in South Korea, the gastroscope was started at the age of 40 to check for gastric cancer; in Japan, the gastroscope was started at the age of 50. But in Taiwan, the mainland, Hong Kong, and the United States, there is no such provision. It is recommended that everyone, if there is any abnormal phenomenon, you should see your gastroenterologist for a checkup.

ask:gastritisWhat are the symptoms?

answer:gastritisThere are two types, one is acute gastritis and the other is chronic gastritis.

Acute gastritis often manifests as stomach pain, symptoms of peritonitis, and fever, usually caused by bacterial or viral infections. Chronic gastritis often presents with symptoms such as indigestion, nausea, bloating, and gas. But many chronic gastritis also have acute phenomenon, and acute gastritis also has chronic phenomenon.

Q: Will long-term gastritis evolve into gastric cancer?

A: Gastritis does not turn into stomach cancer. However, if there are abnormal cells in the stomach, such as intestinal metaplasia or intestinal metaplasia cells in the stomach, or there is a long-term bacterial infection of Helicobacter pylori, that can cause gastric cancer. So it is not that gastritis causes gastric cancer, and gastritis itself will not become gastric cancer.

Q: What are the specific symptoms of gastric cancer?

Answer: The first is weight loss, there is no reason, and the weight begins to gradually become lower and lower; second, the stomach suddenly begins to hurt, following a period of pain, the appetite will also decrease, and the food is relatively I feel full easily, or I feel like vomiting; third, I see that the stool suddenly has a slightly different color, which is black. Because when the stomach bleeds, it passes through the small and large intestines, and the blood turns black. So if you see black stool, you should pay attention and think regarding whether this is the possibility of stomach cancer. Especially if you don’t take iron tablets, you don’t take a pink medicine, you don’t drink any alcohol, and your stool turns black, you should see your gastroenterologist to see if you need a gastroscope to check your stomach for any problems.

Q: It is very commonBloatingIs it a sign of stomach cancer?

Answer: Flatulence may be a warning sign of stomach cancer. Sometimes the first symptom of stomach cancer is the feeling of bloating, especially the following 7 kinds of people should pay attention:
Helicobacter pylori infection
atrophic gastritis
familial adenoma
intestinal metaplasia
multiple polyps
Partial resection of stomach
A close relative in the family has stomach cancer

Q: Many people have a little bit of flatulence. Under what circumstances do you need to seek medical attention?

A: If you suddenly feel fuller following eating food, lose weight, and have stomach pain, you should pay attention to that situation. If you want to see a gastroenterologist, you should have a gastroscope examination.

Q: commonGastric cancer screeningWhat are the tools?

A: Now to check for stomach cancer, you need to use a gastroscope. The doctor will use a thin tube called an endoscope. It has its own lens and light source, and the doctor can view the image on a video monitor. Doctors may use gastroscopy to obtain a biopsy sample. A biopsy helps your doctor differentiate between benign (noncancerous) and malignant (cancerous) tissue. Gastroscopes are more accurate than X-rays at finding inflammation, ulcers and tumors in the esophagus, stomach and duodenum.

Q: What are the risk factors for gastric cancer?

A: Risk factors for stomach cancer include:

1. Is there any abnormal bacterial infection, such as bacillus pylori in the stomach, that bacteria may cause gastric cancer.

2. Smoking and drinking are also more likely to cause stomach cancer

3. If you are obese and don’t exercise enough, you are more likely to cause stomach cancer

4. In terms of diet, eating foods with more salt and more preservatives is also more likely to cause stomach cancer.

5. Eating processed meat is also more likely to cause stomach cancer.

Therefore, especially in terms of diet, processed meat containing many preservatives, preserved food, and smoking and drinking are more likely to cause gastric cancer.

Q: 90% of gastric cancer patients have been infected with Helicobacter pylori. How does Helicobacter pylori get infected?

Answer: Helicobacter pylori is a bacterium that is transmitted through saliva. For example, sharing meals without male chopsticks and female spoons, or feeding chewed food to children are all ways of H. pylori infection.

Q: How is Helicobacter pylori detected?

A: If one of the family members is infected with pylori, the whole family should go to check. Your family doctor and gastroenterologist can do it for you. There are usually three ways to check:

1. Blowing, that is, you have to fast for two hours, you have to blow into a gas bag first, then drink half a small cup of carbon 13 Helicobacter pylori blowing test solvent, regarding 15 minutes, and then blow until Another gas collection bag, the two gas collection bags are tested and analyzed to know whether there is pylori.

2. Check the stool, you can find out whether there is pylori.
3. For the gastroscope, the doctor will use a thin tube called an endoscope, which has its own lens and light source, and the doctor can view the images on a video monitor. You can also test the cells to see if there are any abnormal bacteria or abnormal cells. In regarding 10 minutes, you can check for the presence of pylori.

Q: Can stomach cancer be prevented? How to prevent?

Answer: Gastric cancer is preventable. There are 5 main points to prevent gastric cancer:
1. Eat less cured meat, processed meat, or meat with a lot of salt, more preservatives, and less smoked food.
2. Eat more fresh vegetables and fruits, not to say that they have been stored for two or three nights, but those with more fiber are better.
3. Avoid sharing utensils.
4. Exercise more and don’t be obese, because obesity can cause stomach cancer. If you are obese, your weight will decrease.
5. It is best not to smoke, if you drink alcohol, it is best to drink less or not drink, and do not drink on an empty stomach.

Q: Can gastric cancer be detected and treated early? What is the prognosis?

A: General cancer, not just stomach cancer, no matter what kind of cancer, if it can be detected early, surgery can be performed and it can be cured. However, the more advanced it is, the more complicated it is, and it may not be cured. Therefore, if you have abnormal feeling, such as bloating, pain, loss of appetite, weight loss, feeling full soon following eating something, etc., you should have a gastroscope.

If it is relatively advanced, only radiotherapy and chemotherapy can be performed before surgery, or surgery cannot be performed at all. Too late and you have no effect at all, you can only have chemotherapy. The more advanced ones can only help you prolong the time, but cannot be cured.

Q: What is the latest treatment for gastric cancer?

A: For patients with stage 1 and 2 cancer, doctors usually recommend surgery, which usually results in good results, no more chemotherapy, and no need for targeted therapy.

For patients with stage 3 cancer, it is usually treated with a combination of chemotherapy and surgery.

For stage IV patients, the cancer has spread beyond the stomach and requires chemotherapy and sometimes targeted and immunotherapy, a combination of different treatments.

Many people do not like chemotherapy, but chemotherapy for gastric cancer is still the main treatment method. Only 3% to 4% of gastric cancer patients do not need chemotherapy, and only immunotherapy is effective. Some chemotherapy is necessary, and now chemotherapy is not what people thought it was before. Now the chemotherapy technology has also improved, the efficacy of the drug has improved, because the method of medication has been improved, and the side effects have also been reduced. Many nausea, fatigue, gastrointestinal Discomfort, which was a common phenomenon in chemotherapy in the past, is still present, but it is not as severe as it used to be.

In addition, we also encourage cancer patients to participate in clinical trials. Most clinical trials add new drugs, new technologies, and new methods of cancer research that can improve the treatments cancer patients receive from their doctors and improve the chances of a cure for the cancer.

Responsible editor: Sun Cheng◇