Aspirin-Ulcers Link Now Under Study

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31725, 8 July 1968, Page 3

Aspirin-Ulcers Link Now Under Study

Frequent resort to aspirin promotes the development of gastric ulcers, Dr Margaret Gillies, of the gastroenterology department, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, has found.

Her findings are based on a study of 100 ulcer sufferers 48 of them women and 52 men. These patients’ habits and backgrounds were compared with a similar group .of people who did not have ulcers.

Of the 48 women 34 had been accustomed to taking more than one tablet of aspirin a day. Indeed 20 of them were consuming more than five tablets a day. Only 22 of the 52 men were daily users. These 56 patients had pursued their habit for an average of seven years before seeking medical treatment for their ulcers. A curious outcome of the study is that gastric ulcers are equally common among Sydney’s men and women. In Melbourne, the incidence of ulcers among women is only half as high. Melbourne’s rate matches that of many European and North American cities. Living conditions in the two Australian cities are generally regarded as being practically identical, so the cause of the striking difference in the ulcer rate is now being sought. The commonest reasons given by the women patients

for taking aspirin were “to get a lift” and “settle the nerves,” but rarely “to relieve pain.” Sociological questions revealed that the gastric ulcer sufferers tended to have lower educational attainments and lower status jobs, and were more unhappy in their marriages, than people without ulcers. They were also more likely to be cigarette smokers. Dr Peter Baume, of the Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, said at a meeting of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians that antacid powders, in spite of established opinion, were useless as a cure for stomach ulcers. Research in his hospital

had shown that their only value was in relieving pain. Patients were given antacid powders on the hour for 14 hours a day, for several weeks, but even this regimen had not the slightest effect on healing the ulcers. Different types of antacid powders were included in the experiment. Gastric ulcers are a common affliction in Sydney. About 10 per cent of the people develop ulcers that are sufficiently serious to warrant medical attention. Dr Baume considers that gastric ulcers are not associated with mental stress, although anxiety may produce duodenal ulcers. —Aust. News and Information Bureau.