3. Smoking.
It’s well-known that smoking has numerous adverse effects on health and well-being. It increases the risk of lung cancer, high blood pressure, oral health problems, and various other conditions. However, many people are surprised to learn that smoking cigarettes can also increase the risk of developing a gastric ulcer; especially in people who are affected by H. pylori bacteria. Furthermore, smoking can slow the healing time of a peptic ulcer.
The reason? – Cigarettes contain numerous contaminants that can interfere with the mechanisms that the body naturally produces to protect the lining of the stomach against highly acidic gastric acid. Under normal conditions, the body produces sodium bicarbonate, a naturally-occurring antacid, which neutralizes the acid in the stomach and the duodenum. Scientific evidence has suggested that cigarette smoking increases the amount of acid the stomach produces, thus increasing the risk of the development of both gastric and duodenal ulcers.