Herbal Ginger, the Natural Treatment for Gastric/Stomach Ulcers

By Kyle J. Norton


Gastric ulcers or stomach ulcers are conditions characterized by the painful sores in the stomach lining. Unlike the gastric ulcers, peptic ulcers are sores found in the stomach and small intestines.

The exact causes of gastric ulcer are not clearly identified. However, according to the epidemiological studies, a bacterial infection caused by the H. pylori infection has been found in the range of 30 to 50% of people with stomach ulcers. 

Gastric ulcers caused by H. pylori infection are more likely to develop in patients over 40 in the US

Other risk factors associated with gastric ulcer include long-term use of certain medications, such as NSAID which has been found to cause more than 50% of peptic ulcers and stress.

Treatment of gastric ulcers is depended totally on the underlying causes, including antacids for the reduced acid in the stomach, and antibiotics for the elimination of Helicobacter pylori.

Unfortunately, people with gastric ulcer infected by the Helicobacter pylori treated with antibiotics have a higher risk of recurrence. In severe cases, surgery may be necessary.

Untreated or uncovered stomach ulcers may induce some complications, including stomach bleeding penetration,  and cancer.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) or ginger root, the second superfood used for thousands of years by mankind, is the genus Zingiber, belonging to the family Zingiberaceae, native to Tamil.

The root has been used in traditional and Chinese medicine for the treatment of dyspepsia, gastroparesis, constipation, edema, difficult urination, colic, etc.

With an aim to find a potential ingredient for the treatment of gastric ulcers with no side effects, researchers examined the possible mechanism of the protective effect of ginger on the aspirin-induced gastric ulcer.

The study included 40 adult male albino rats randomized divided  into four groups (10 animal per each group) and orally received the followings once daily for 5 days:

Group I: 3 ml of 1% carboxymethyl cellulose; 

Group II: ginger powder (200 mg/kg body weight) suspended in 3 mL of 1% carboxymethylcellulose; 

Group III: aspirin (400 mg/kg body weight) suspended in 3 ml of 1% carboxymethylcellulose in water. 

Group IV: ginger and 30 minutes later, received aspirin suspended in 1% carboxymethylcellulose, in similar doses as received in groups II and III.

Before treatment of ginger, Aspirin-induced a significant increase of the macroscopic ulcer score, and gastric damage observed by the shed and disrupted epithelium, mucosal hemorrhage, submucosal edema and leukocyte infiltration, loss of the mucus of the mucosal surface.

Furthermore, in the proteins perspective, Aspirin significantly increased expression of apoptosis regulator Bax, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) associated with the production of proinflammatory cytokines and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) involved stress response.

Injection of ginger protected the gastric integrity by restoring all damage caused by aspirin in the induction of gastric ulcer.

Dr. Salah Khalil M, said, "Ginger ameliorated the histological changes by reducing Bax and iNOS and increasing HSP70 expressions".

In other words, the overexpression of proteins associated with the onset of gastric ulcer also was significantly reduced by the ginger administration.

Take all together, ginger may be considered a functional alternative for the treatment of gastric ulcers, pending to the confirmation of large sample size and multicenter human study.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) The postulated mechanism of the protective effect of ginger on the aspirin induced gastric ulcer: Histological and immunohistochemical studies by Salah Khalil M. (PubMed)
(2) Synbiotic (probiotic and ginger extract) loaded floating beads: a novel therapeutic option in an experimental paradigm of gastric ulcer by Singh PK1, Kaur IP. (PubMed)