Peptic ulcers develop when there is an imbalance of digestive juices or if there’s been damage to the lining of the stomach due to something like alcoholism. They are like canker sores on the lining of the stomach or just at the opening of the small intestine. If your senior loved one has peptic ulcers their senior home care providers could help them manage their condition.
Ulcers can be very painful and shouldn’t be ignored. If your parent has ulcers, it’s important to follow the home treatments recommended by his doctor, but you’ll want to help your parent continually assess his symptoms to make sure that his ulcers haven’t taken a turn and progressed to a more dangerous level.
The common symptoms of ulcers are burning pain in the stomach, heartburn, belching, and sometimes nausea. If your elderly parent complains to you or his senior home care provider about any of these following symptoms, his ulcers might be getting worse and be placing him in a dangerous health realm.
- Vomiting or vomiting blood — which may appear red or black
- Noticing dark blood in stools, or his stools are black or tarry
- Having trouble breathing
- Feeling faint
- Changes in his appetite, especially a reduction
- Unexplained weight loss
If your parent does not treat his ulcers, they can lead to other more serious complications. The above symptoms may mean he is at risk for any of the below complications.
Internal bleeding. Bleeding can occur either with slow blood loss that leads to anemia or with severe blood loss that may require hospitalization or a blood transfusion. If your parent is having severe blood loss, that is when he will often see his stools or vomit tinged with blood or looking black. Your home care provider should let you know if she notices any of these symptoms if she assists your parent with using the bathroom.
A hole (perforation) in your parent’s stomach wall. Peptic ulcers might eat a hole through the wall of the stomach or small intestine and perforate it. This complication will put your parent at risk of developing a serious infection in his abdominal cavity (peritonitis).
Obstruction. Peptic ulcers will sometimes block the passage of food through the digestive tract, causing your parent to feel full easily. Because of that uncomfortable feeling of fullness, he may vomit and lose weight either through swelling from inflammation or scarring. If you or his senior home care provider have noticed your parent has started to lose a lot of weight since being diagnosed with peptic ulcers, he should be reevaluated to make sure his ulcer hasn’t created an obstruction to his digestive tract.
Gastric cancer. Studies have shown that people infected with H. pylori have an increased risk of gastric cancer, also known as stomach cancer. Stomach cancer often begins when something hurts the cells on the inner lining of the stomach and ulcers can create a lot of damage.
While most peptic ulcers can be treated with home remedies and some medication from the doctor if you notice your parent taking a turn for the worse, plan to revisit his doctor to make sure he’s not entering dangerous territory.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/stomach-cancer/symptoms-causes/syc-20352438
If you or an aging loved one are considering Senior Home Care Services in Del Mar CA, please contact the caring staff at Canaan Home Care today! 1-844-CANAAN-1 (1-844-226-2261)
Canaan Home Care – A Premier Provider of Senior Home Care in the La Jolla, Del Mar, San Diego, Rancho Santa Fe, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Tustin, and Manhattan Beach areas.
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