CLINICAL FEATURES

DU (most common)
• Burning ‘right’ epigastric pain 90 min to 3 h after meals
• often nocturnal
• relieved by food intake (as pyloric antrum closes, preventing the gastric juice from passing to duo.)

GU
• Burning ‘left’ epigastric pain usu. after food (within 1 hr)
• made worse by or unrelated to food
• anorexia, food aversion, weight loss (in 40%)
• great individual variation

DETECTION OF “H. pylori “

1) Detection of ANTIBODIES in serum (inexpensive, preferred when endoscopy is not required)
2) Rapid urease test of ANTRAL BIOPSY (when endoscopy is required)
3) Urea BREATH test generally used to confirm eradication of H. pylori, if necessary