Ulcers - Description

Experts estimate that about 2 percent of the adult population in the United States have active ulcers and that about 10 percent of all adults will have an ulcer at some point in their lives. Males have about three times as many ulcers as females.

Ulcers are sometimes classified according to the part of the digestive system in which they occur. Gastric ulcers occur in the stomach. Duodenal ulcers occur in the duodenum. The duodenum (pronounced doo-uh-DEE-nuhm) is the upper part of the small intestine, adjacent to the stomach.

A peptic ulcer is one that occurs in the upper digestive tract, in which the break in the mucous membrane is exposed to gastric acidic secretion. About 80 percent of all peptic ulcers occur in the duodenum. They are most common among males between the ages of twenty and forty-five. Gastric ulcers account for about 16 percent of all peptic ulcers and are most common in males between the ages of fifty-five and seventy.