Asked by: Anonymous
A 'cast-iron stomach' is probably the norm, and it is better to ask why so many people don't have cast-iron stomachs, and suffer indigestion after eating or drinking. Sometimes the answer lies in a diagnosable medical condition, such as an incipient or real peptic ulcer. In most cases of 'functional' (non-ulcer) dyspepsia, however, the cause is much harder to identify. A group of Australian doctors writing in the British Medical Journal state that 'at least two thirds of patients have no structural or biochemical explanation for their symptoms'. They go on to say that 'smoking and alcohol do not seem to be important in functional dyspepsia (this emphatically does not mean that smoking and drinking are harmless), but coffee ingestion has been linked to exacerbation of symptoms'. Make of that what you will.
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