| [ Summary ] |
In clinical practice, in Japan the concept of "gastritis" is used for not only histologic gastritis but also for endoscopic gastris or for patients with dyspepsia. On the other hand, the term "gastrits" is used only for histologic gastritis and for the patients with dyspepsia diagnosed as functional dyspepsia (FD) in western countries. Many recent studies have demonstrated that histologic gastritis is induced mainly by Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) infection, which is a major risk factor for peptic ulcer disease, gastric cancer, and primary gastric lymphoma. In addition, histologic gastritis does not cause dyspeptic symptoms. There fore, the term FD should be used for clinical syndromes involving the upper abdomin. In this article, the differences in the concept of gastritis in western countries and Japan will be discussed from a historical perspective. |