The causes of stomach cancer(carcinoma) are unknown,but certain dietary and environmental factors play a role in developing this disease.
Risk factors:
-Alcohol consumption
-Spicy foods
-Ingestion of nitrates,changed by bacterial action into nitrosamines that proved to be carcinogenic.
But exist precancerous conditions as:
-Malignant gastric ulcer
-Atrophic gastritis of pernicious anaemia
-Crhronic gasttritis
-Partial gastrectomy for pepticulcer
-Achlorhydria
-Helicabacter pylori(secretes cytotoxin that attacts the stomach mucosa,predisposing to chronic gastritis,gastric ulcer,and the risk of gastric carcinoma).
Symptoms:at the begining is mild,then increasingly severe upper gastrointestinal manifestetion,with anaemia,and loss of weight.
Diagnosis:
The symptoms are not diagnosis specially in the early stage of sisease.Persisting symptoms in a case over 40 years are suggestive,to be investigated(gastroscopy,radiodiagnosis,cytologic examination and occult blood in stools).
The rate of developing a stomach cancer is declining according to the dietary and environmental factor of different countries.
The possibility of having stomach cancer increase whit age,specially over 40 years,is significantly higher in men,is more common in blood group A and the incidence is relatively higher in Japan and China.
The prevention is based preventing known risk factors and precancerous conditions.
So,fallow proper dietary habits,avoid alcohol and too spicy food,control of food additives preservatives,early diagnosis and management of stomach disease,specially gastritis and ulcer.
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