gastritis

Definition gastritis

gastritis: gastritis n. inflammation of the lining (mucosa) of the stomach. Acute gastritis is caused by injesting excess alcohol or other irritating or corrosive substances and causes vomiting. Chronic gastritis is associated with smoking and chronic alcoholism and may be caused by bile entering the stomach from the duodenum. It has no definite symptoms, but the patient is liable to develop gastric ulcers. Atrophic gastritis, in which the stomach lining is atrophied, may succeed chronic gastritis but may occur spontaneously as an *autoimmune disease. Dyspeptic symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and abdominal discomfort, popularly ascribed to gastritis, are not due to inflammation of the stomach.