Ulcers are most often caused by infection with H. pylori bacteria, with lifestyle factors such as eating habits and stress playing a lesser role, but new research suggests that regular exercise may counter all of these factors and reduce the risk for at least one type of ulcer.
Researchers studied more than 11,000 men and women.
Active men had one-half to one-third the risk of developing a duodenal ulcer over 20 years compared with their sedentary peers.
A duodenal ulcer occurs in the upper part of the small intestine known as the duodenum.
Men who walked or ran at least 10 miles a week were 62% less likely than inactive subjects to develop an ulcer.
Men who walked or ran less than 10 miles each week had about half the ulcer risk of those with no regular exercise.
Ulcers were long thought to be caused by poor diet or stress, but were definitively linked to H. pylori infection in the 1980s. Yet, since H. pylori bacteria dwell within half the world's population, researchers also believe that lifestyle factors help determine which people develop ulcers.
Researchers speculate that exercise may help the body deal with the physical effects of psychological stress, reduce acid production in the digestive tract, or enhance immune system' function.
Western Journal of Medicine August 2000;173:101-107.
This is not surprising to learn that exercise improves ulcers, but it is not necessarily intuitive. It is certainly something I never appreciated but it is quite consistent with the general principle of overall improvement of the immune system. Drinking 12 glasses of water per day and following the diet and supplementing with beneficial bacteria seem to resolve ulcers in well over 95% of the people that I care for with ulcers.
It is also important to avoid certain medications, such as Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), which can increase the risk of ulcers.
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