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Hyperacidity
Q. What are the causes of excessive acidity of the
stomach?
A. The immediate cause of excessive acidity of the
stomach is generally an excessive formation of hydrochloric acid. There may be
several causes for this.
Probably the most common cause is an
inactive state of the bowels, or chronic autointoxication. Poisons
formed in the intestine and absorbed, being excreted into the stomach,
over-excite the gastric glands. Another cause is hasty eating, in consequence
of which food is retained for too long a
time in the stomach, giving rise to
excessive irritation of the mucous membrane.
The free use of meat is perhaps
the most important of
all the cause which can be mentioned.
The soluble substances of
the meat, which give to it its peculiar flavor,
are most powerful stimulants of the gastnc glands. Pawlow
showed that the gastric
juice produced by eating meat is much more acid than
that produced by bread, milk and other food substances. Copious drinking
at meals and the use of condiments may also give rise to
acidity.