ACID-PEPTIC DISEASE



The normal stomach can secrete H+ at 1000 times its concentration in extracellular fluid in association with potent proteolytic enzymes. It is not surprising, therefore, that gastric juice is fully capable of injuring the host as well as digesting components of the diet. Acid-peptic disease, which refers nonspecifically to disorders associ­ated with such injury, includes peptic ulcer of the duodenum and stomach (and rarely of the je­junum or of a Meckel’s diverticulum), some forms of gastritis, and reflux esophagitis. The latter en­tity has been discussed in Chapter 38.