Today, modern people are so busy that they have long been accustomed to snacks on the run, fatty, spicy, spicy foods, fast food and dry food. For 95% of the population of civilized countries, such a diet does not pass without a trace, and many have stomach problems.
In this article, we will consider how gastritis is treated, drugs for effective treatment, why therapy should be comprehensive and what purpose and contraindications are the most popular drugs for this ailment.
How does a specialist choose a medicine for gastritis?
For the treatment of inflammatory processes of the gastric mucosa, it is necessary to determine their type and shape. There are more than a few dozen varieties of gastritis, each of which requires the appointment of special medications. In this article you can find out only general principles of treatment, without taking into account all the possible nuances.
Preparations for the treatment of gastritis are presented below.
Basic rule
A comprehensive approach is needed to treat gastritis: as a rule, specialists prescribe several drugs of a different orientation. Some are able to remove the main symptoms, others can protect the mucous membrane from damage, and others can cope with the main cause of the disease. Only such a complex of drugs will help during an exacerbation of the pathology and prevent its development. The variety of drugs and the duration of admission for different patients vary significantly.
With exacerbation
During an exacerbation, doctors prescribe drugs for the treatment of gastritis that can eliminate the cause of the condition: antihistamines (in the presence of an allergic reaction), antibacterial drugs (in the presence of infection), adsorbents (in the presence of toxic substances in the stomach). To remove the signs of the disease and prevent the development of inflammatory processes, prokinetics (in the presence of nausea and vomiting), analgesics and antispasmodics (for pain), antacids (to reduce damage and protect the mucous membrane) are prescribed. Symptoms and treatment of gastritis are often interrelated.
With chronic gastritis
In the chronic form of gastritis, an indicator of the acidity of the stomach is very important for treatment: with an increased mucosa, the mucous membrane suffers from a high concentration of hydrochloric acid. Therefore, among the prescribed drugs there are proton pump and antacid inhibitors that can neutralize and reduce acid production, as well as gastroprotectors that protect all the membranes of the stomach wall. Gastritis with a low acidity is a much rarer and very dangerous species. To combat it, gastric juice, enzymes, bismuth preparations and prokinetics are used. For the treatment of the chronic form of gastritis caused by a dangerous microorganism - Helicobacter pylori bacterium (Helicobacter pylori), a system consisting of three components is used: antibiotics, proton pump inhibitors and preparations with the main active substance of bismuth substrate. Such therapy lasts about ten days. For resistant strains of bacteria, auxiliary substances are prescribed - nitrofuran derivatives. In the treatment of gastritis, the most effective drugs can be purchased at the pharmacy.
Do not forget that only a qualified doctor can recognize the disease and prescribe the right medicines to help treat gastritis. Self-medication is strictly contraindicated, because it can only significantly worsen the condition. Also, when using drugs to treat gastritis, one should carefully study the instructions, contraindications and possible side effects.
Groups of antacid drugs for the treatment of gastritis
If the inflammatory process of the gastric mucosa is caused by an increased acidity, then one of the most important areas of gastritis therapy is to lower the concentration of hydrochloric acid. For this, the use of antacids is prescribed - drugs that can neutralize a certain amount of stomach acid.
Antacids are divided into two broad categories - non-absorbable (aluminum hydroxide, aluminum phosphate, etc.) and absorbable (for example, sodium carbonate, magnesium oxide). Today, absorbed substances are practically not used, because they can only temporarily alleviate the condition, but at the same time aggravate the course of the disease.
Aluminum phosphate, which is a popular nonabsorbable antacid, cannot be used in Alzheimer's disease, with severe impairment of all renal functions, individual intolerance, and hypophosphatemia.
There is, nevertheless, a difference between the treatment of gastritis and effective treatment.
Alginates
According to the mechanism of action, the substances of this group are very similar to antacids, because they can reduce the acidity of the stomach, due to the fact that they react with hydrochloric acid. As a result of this reaction, a safe gel arises, enveloping the mucous membrane and protecting it from damage. Alginates, like antacids, are prescribed for the treatment of gastritis with an increased rate of acidity of the stomach.
Sodium alginate is the most prominent representative of this group of drugs used to combat gastritis. Medicines containing this actively active substance cannot be used in patients under 12 years of age, with hypersensitivity to the components and phenylketonuria.
It is important to understand that only a doctor can select the necessary drugs. Symptoms and treatment of gastritis in adults are of interest to many.
Therapy of gastritis will not have an effective effect if, in addition to taking medications, the diet is not changed. If the disease proceeds in an acute form, then starvation during the day is allowed, after which it is allowed to eat low-fat, light food. If the disease proceeds in a chronic form, then the diet is prescribed depending on the acidity index: if it’s elevated, this is table No. 1, and if it is lowered, it is table No. 2.
What other drugs for the treatment of gastritis are known?
The use of analgesics and antispasmodics to relieve pain
The inflammatory process in the mucous membrane of the stomach can often be accompanied by pain. If gastritis is caused by an increased acidity, then taking antacids may be enough: the pain disappears with a weakening of hydrochloric acid. But if the acidity index is reduced, then the specialist additionally prescribes antispasmodics and analgesics. Treatment of exacerbation of gastritis with drugs can take a long time.
- Antispasmodics are prescribed for cramping, because they are able to have a relaxing effect on the muscles, thereby reducing and eliminating pain. Very popular drugs in this subgroup are those that contain papaverine or drotaverine hydrochloride. According to some doctors, the first is used for course treatment, and the second is effective for exacerbations. These drugs have similar contraindications: they can not be used for patients who have an allergic reaction to the components, in case of impaired renal function (drotaverine - also in renal and heart failure), in the presence of a kind of heart block - atrioventricular block. In addition, papaverine is contraindicated in elderly patients, infants and with glaucoma, and drotaverin in patients with low blood pressure and cardiogenic shock.
- Analgesics are used to relieve pain that is not spastic in nature. For example, metamizole sodium is very popular. This substance, like most analgesics, has a lot of various contraindications: the period of pregnancy and breastfeeding, asthma, leukopenia, anemia, impaired liver and kidney function, hematopoiesis, individual intolerance to components, etc.
In general, antispasmodics and analgesics, in addition to the analgesic effect, can negatively affect the state of the digestive tract, therefore their use is recommended to be combined with gastroprotectors in the treatment of gastritis. Effective drug treatment is not complete without them.
Gastroprotectors
Substances of this group are able to protect the gastric mucosa by forming a thin layer on its surface. Drugs are prescribed for the treatment of gastritis with high acidity, when the organ mucosa is destroyed by hydrochloric acid.
One of the most popular drugs in this group are those that contain bismuth subcitrate. They not only protect, but are also able to exert an antibacterial effect by inhibiting the development of the Helicobacter pylori bacteria. The course of treatment with bismuth preparations, as a rule, lasts several months.
Medicines with this active substance are contraindicated in pregnant and lactating women, with increased sensitivity to the components, as well as with severe renal failure.
We continue to consider the symptoms and treatment of exacerbation of gastritis with drugs.
Antibacterial drugs for the treatment of gastritis and stomach ulcers
If the inflammatory process in the gastric mucosa is caused by the Helicobacter pylori bacterium, then drugs that can destroy it are used for treatment. It has already been indicated above that bismuth preparations show good results in the fight against this bacterium. But quite often antibiotics are also prescribed: for example, amoxicillin trihydrate (a group of penicillins) is very common in the treatment of gastritis. Preparations for the treatment of gastritis in adults can be purchased at any pharmacy.
Like the vast majority of antibiotics, it has a number of significant limitations on its use. In particular, it should not be taken by elderly people and children, women who are breast-feeding, with hay fever, asthma, allergic reactions, lymphocytic leukemia, some pathologies of the digestive system and a number of other diseases.
Do not forget that antibiotics can not only destroy harmful bacteria, but also beneficial ones, which can cause disruption of the intestines. After a course of treatment with amoxicillin, it is very often prescribed to take probiotics that can restore the intestinal microflora.
We consider the symptoms and treatment of gastritis in adults. Drugs do not end there.
Prokinetics
This group of drugs affects the motility of the digestive tract by accelerating the removal of food from the stomach. They are also able to relieve the most common symptoms of gastritis - a feeling of nausea and vomiting. Basically, prokinetics are used to treat gastritis with low acidity.
Popular prokinetics are drugs for the treatment of gastritis of the stomach, containing domperidone or metoclopramide in their composition. Both drugs are contraindicated for use in cases of bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract, intestinal obstruction, some types of tumors and in childhood (from one to five years).
Conclusion
The treatment of a disease such as gastritis requires an integrated approach: most often the doctor prescribes a course that includes about three drugs from the above groups. During treatment, it is important not only to overcome the exacerbation of the disease, but also to prevent its consequences: for this, the doctor prescribes vitamin complexes and gastroprotectors. For those who want to forget about the pain in the stomach, a cardinal change in lifestyle is shown - the exclusion of bad habits and a review of their diet.
This is what gastritis treatment means. Effective drug treatment has proven itself.