Some perspectives on peptic ulcer.

Abstract

In this article, the author comments on the following topics: whether peptic ulcer is a disease or just the sign of another process; whether the crater has a multifactorial origin; the ubiquity of Helicobacter pylori and the conclusion that a specific strain will doubtless prove to be the cause of some, but not all, ulcers; the inherent definitional problem of "nonulcer dyspepsia"; and the controversy over how much gastric acid needs to be reduced to speed the healing of peptic ulcer.