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They most often appear in people in their forties and older. In the early stages of the disease, they do not cause any discomfort, but when allowed to grow, they can become dangerous. They are polyps.
It has lumpy growths on the mucosa in the digestive tract. They are more often located in the lower part of the digestive system, but those in the stomach and duodenum are also more and more common in middle-aged people. The disease affects both men and women.
The polyp is not equal to the polyp
They can have a thicker base or a thin leg, and as they grow more and more, they protrude from the surface of the stomach or duodenum. And then they are irritated more and more by the food content. They are from a few millimeters to several centimeters in size: the record-holder polyp can be up to 12 cm. They appear singly or in groups throughout the digestive tract.
Why are they growing?
The main culprit is unhealthy food – too fatty, hard to digest, heavily processed and in large quantities instead of vegetables and fruits. Gastrointestinal polyposis may also be genetically determined. Although the polyps themselves develop without symptoms for a long time, they can be suspected when digestive ailments such as heartburn, flatulence, and burning behind the breastbone recur. They are very often signs of inflammation in the gastrointestinal mucosa, gastric ulcer or infection with a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori. And these diseases very often underlie the appearance of polyps.
The mucosa under special protection
Many disease processes – not only the formation of polyps – begin in the damaged mucosa of the stomach and duodenum. It is a protective layer, it is well supplied with blood and is delicate but durable. Undamaged, it effectively protects against the penetration of harmful factors. Our entire gastrointestinal tract suffers badly from eating irregularly, eating meals in a hurry, and dinner, which is often the only proper meal throughout the day. All this interferes with the precise mechanism of acid secretion, which works by reflexes, and consequently leads to damage to the mucosa. It is inadvisable for the stomach to eat very cold, very hot and very fatty things. It does not tolerate carbonated drinks, especially when very chilled, as well as stimulants – coffee, alcohol and, above all, cigarettes.
More or less dangerous
Seven out of ten polyps are called hyperplastic polyps, made of abnormal mucosa. Chronic inflammation of the gastric mucosa causes uncontrolled over-regeneration of the stomach lining. This is the case, for example, in peptic ulcer disease. These changes turn into polyps. Over time, they can turn into adenomas (benign neoplastic changes), which in turn are the most dangerous – about 40 percent. gastric adenomas will develop into gastric cancer in the future. They can be up to 15 cm in size. They should be removed, whatever their size.
Polyps from … treatment
There is also a type of polyp that results from long-term alleviation of stomach discomfort, i.e. the administration of drugs that inhibit the secretion of stomach acid. These drugs are called proton pump inhibitors – modern, very effective in eliminating e.g. heartburn. They can be identified by the fact that the name of the active substance under the name of the medicine has the ending “prazol”. After several years of using them without knowing the real cause of heartburn, the so-called treatment-dependent polyps – more common in women than in men.
How to recognize polyps?
Polyps are diagnosed by examination with a gastroscope. Without this study, they can only be suspected. Thanks to the introduction of a thin tube into the stomach, the doctor examines the entire mucosa very carefully, pays attention to every change in the color of the mucosa, every protuberance – during the examination, you can also take a sample for examination immediately.
The fecal occult blood cassette test, which you can do yourself at home, and buy it at Medonet Market, can help you diagnose polyps.
How to heal them?
If the polyps are small and the cause of their formation is inflammatory processes, then treating them with drugs prevents the formation of new polyps. However, most often doctors recommend that they be removed because they will not disappear on their own. Removal of polyps, especially if there are several of them and they are large, is necessary. Not only because there is a risk of polyps turning into malignant lesions. Unwanted appendages can disrupt the functions of the stomach. Not all food ingredients are digested properly, which affects the work of subsequent sections of the digestive tract. Over time, polyps can grow and change, causing bleeding and increasing discomfort. Removal is therefore the only effective method of treating polyps. After the procedure, if it turns out that, in addition to the polyps in the stomach, the bacterium Helicobacter pylori was also present, the doctor recommends administering agents that destroy it.
Endoscopy or surgery?
First, by means of gastroscopy, the doctor assesses the location, size and number of polyps. Currently, the so-called flexible endoscopes, using optical fibers – very thin glass wires that transmit light without distortion, even when strongly bent. A modern gastroscope is a bundle of such glass fibers, encased in a flexible armor with a diameter of approx. 10 mm, a special thin instrument with a loop is inserted through the endoscope channel, which is placed on the polyp stalk like a lasso. After it is grabbed close to the base, a high-frequency current is passed through the loop. This cuts the polyp away from the mucosa immediately and prevents excessive bleeding. The procedure is painless and – if it is done correctly – you can go home straight away. The removed lesion is sent for histopathological examination. In the case of many polyps, they are removed gradually during subsequent endoscopic procedures. An alternative to this method is surgery.
dr Piotr Oficalski, surgeon at the Western Hospital John Paul II in Grodzisk Mazowiecki: The lesion cannot be removed endoscopically when it is very large and / or inconveniently located. Although this is a relative issue, it depends on the assessment of the doctor and the available equipment. The choice of the method is determined between the doctor and the patient, it should be remembered that in the event of an endoscopic procedure, the organ may be perforated, from which the lesion is removed and, consequently, surgical treatment will be required. Currently, there is a tendency in the world to remove polypoid lesions with the endoscopic method, as it is safer and less burdensome for the patient. In this way, of course, both gastric and duodenal polyps can be removed.
If a lesion is not completely removed, it can – and will – grow back. Individual predisposition to the formation of polyps should also be taken into account. Since one has appeared, more may appear.
Read more: Functional disorders of the stomach and duodenum
hallo. ek het n paar maande terug vir toetse gegaan nadat ek baie siek was met my maag. dokter het gesê daar is poliepe in my dikderm. hy het egter nie gesê hy kan dit verwyder nie. sy enigste kommentaar was dat wanneer my derm begjn pyn moet ek terugkom dan kan hy vir my n stoma insit. nou lees ek dat dit wel chirurgies verwyder kan word.?? ek het nog nie pyn in my derm nie maar ek bloei rektaal. wat staan mybte doen. enige raad asb.?