GASTRIC ACID DURING RECURRENCES AND REMISSIONS OF DUODENAL ULCER

Abstract

The control of gastric acidity is still considered the major objective of therapy by many gastro-enterologists who believe hypersecretion to be the most important etiologic factor in the genesis of ulcer. This concept is maintained despite the accepted fact that there exists a marked variation in acidity not only in the ulcer-bearing patient but also in the normal healthy person. We do not concur with the belief that there is any exact relationship between the degree of gastric acidity and the symptomatology or behavior of an ulcer. Although the preponderance of clinical and experimental evidence definitely opposes the correlation of gastric acidity with the production either of gastric pain or of the ulcer itself, the majority of clinicians employ and teach the precepts of neutralization therapy. Some investigators are still ascribing etiologic and therapeutic significance to deviations from the so-called normal levels of gastric acidity in patients with ulcer. In