Is burping and chest congestion a sign of esophageal cancer?

The feeling of belching is very uncomfortable. Most people have had similar experiences. Some recover on their own without taking medicine, and some can be cured by taking some Chinese medicine tablets orally. However, if there are other symptoms besides belching, it should be taken seriously. Does belching and chest congestion mean esophageal cancer? This possibility cannot be ruled out, but the possibility of gastritis is greater, which needs to be confirmed through examination in the hospital.

What is chronic gastritis?

Inflammation of the gastric mucosa caused by various reasons is called gastritis, and when it is mainly characterized by chronic inflammatory cell infiltration, it is called chronic gastritis. Common causes include Helicobacter pylori infection, bile reflux, smoking, etc. The most common symptoms of patients include fullness, belching, and upper abdominal pain.

Is chronic gastritis a common disease?

Since most patients with chronic gastritis do not have any symptoms, it is difficult to obtain an exact prevalence. What is certain is that the prevalence of chronic gastritis is no lower than the Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection rate among the local population. The prevalence of chronic gastritis increases with age, but has no significant correlation with gender.

What types of chronic gastritis can be divided into?

According to the endoscopic manifestations, chronic gastritis can be divided into chronic non-atrophic gastritis and chronic atrophic gastritis.

According to the site of gastritis, chronic gastritis can be divided into antral gastritis, body gastritis, pangastritis mainly in the antrum, and pangastritis mainly in the body.

What are the main symptoms of patients with chronic gastritis?

Most patients with chronic gastritis do not have any symptoms, but some patients may experience indigestion symptoms such as bad breath, belching, acid reflux, upper abdominal pain, and fullness. Elderly patients may have both gastroesophageal reflux disease and gastrointestinal motility disorders. Patients with long-term indigestion caused by chronic gastritis may also show mental and psychological symptoms such as anxiety and depression. In addition, one point worth noting is that there is no obvious correlation between the severity of symptoms of patients with chronic gastritis and the degree of gastric mucosal damage under gastroscopy. In other words, if you suffer from chronic gastritis, you cannot judge the severity of the disease based solely on the severity of the symptoms. The most important thing is to look at the results of gastroscopy and pathology examinations.

Can chronic gastritis heal itself?

Asymptomatic mild chronic non-atrophic gastritis generally does not require drug treatment and can heal itself by adjusting diet and lifestyle habits.

For those with obvious symptoms or severe endoscopic inflammation, appropriate drug treatment should be given based on the Helicobacter pylori infection status, endoscopic manifestations and (or) pathological results.

What are the possible serious consequences of chronic gastritis?

Generally speaking, chronic gastritis is not a serious disease, and most patients with chronic non-atrophic gastritis have stable conditions, especially those without Helicobacter pylori infection.

Repeated or persistent Helicobacter pylori infection and poor eating habits may lead to ulcers or aggravate gastric mucosal atrophy and intestinal metaplasia. A few patients may develop intraepithelial neoplasia (formerly known as atypical hyperplasia). A very small number of patients may progress to gastric cancer, and cancer often occurs on the basis of ulcers and high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia.