What ulcer patients should know about milk

Most people are bond to have one form of ulcer or another at some point in their lives and if left untreated, can resort to serious health problems, and even death. Rashidat Awoyemi is a peptic ulcer patient.She says when an attack comes, the pain can often be agonising and taking milk does not help, […]

Most people are bond to have one form of ulcer or another at some point in their lives and if left untreated, can resort to serious health problems, and even death. Rashidat Awoyemi is a peptic ulcer patient.She says when an attack comes, the pain can often be agonising and taking milk does not help, though her doctor had advised her to take milk in the absence of her prescription drugs.
Awoyemi recounted a recent experience: “There was a day when my ulcer attack began in the evening and my antacid was finished. I was immediately feed with milk, as soon as I took the milk the pain just shot up and I began to gasp for breath. My friend quickly ran to a nearby chemist to get me antacid. It was after I had it that I felt relieved.”
Her experience is not peculiar though many people still see milk as a cure for ulcer rather than a palliative, even so not in all cases.Medical expert agree that milk is not a cure for ulcer but only helps soothe pain when it comes. Dr. Idoko Kingsley of Ancilla Catholic Hospital Lagos says ulcer “patients normally take milk mainly out of their own discretion,” stressing that “they do so for its cooling effect which is good for some but bad for many others.”
Decrying the practice, he said:“No doctor would prescribe milk in place of antacid for ulcer patients.” He called on patients to seek the services of qualified medical doctors for proper check-up.
A pharmacist, Emmanuel Otukpa, advised ulcer patients on the use of drugs: “A patient can take a combination of antibiotics, antacids, proton pump, inhibitors.” He adds that milk is good because it builds up the mucus wall of the stomach lining but if much of it is taken then it can be harmful for the patient.
“Milk is not a drug,” says Mrs. Gladys Nwaka, a dietician at the National Hospital, Abuja. She explains that previously everything about ulcer management was frequent intake of milk and other recommended foods, but all that has now changed.
“What we do now is to find out what distresses an individual.There are foods that distress an ulcer patient so we omit such foods, it’s a kind of elimination process such that we feed you on milk and observe the patient for some time in case of any discomfort. We do that for days and if there is no discomfort one can go on taking milk, but if we notice any discomfort then we ask the person to stop. Milk also helps in wound healing but for ulcer, it produces amino acid; for some when they take milk in excess the pain just comes back after some time because milk induces the production of the stomach acid.We do this observation for about a week or two after this we would be able to establish if a person requires much milk or just a little. Because once a person takes the milk it forms like a protein around the stomach environment that makes one feel relieved for some time,”Nwaka explains.
The dietician adds that large amount of stomach acid was not good for the management of peptic ulcer as the aim is to reduceacidity as much as possible: “In reducing the acid load it means one have to reduce certain things that make the stomach to produce so much acid. That is why we recommend that people with peptic ulcer should eat small frequent meals, eating large amounts of food would lead to certain pressure on the stomach and digestive juices to be secreted so much in other to enable the food to be digested and if those acids are being secreted then one would begin to have pains. It feels like there is a wound around the stomach area and one is bringing something that is acidic on it.”
 She noted that: “Some people don’t know that they have ulcer they just feel it’s a stomach ache or chest pain and they continue to feed on milk which is very dangerous to health because milk is not a drug and can’t cure ulcer. A patient can take milk to suppress the pain till he gets to the hospital within an hour or two for further management. The intuition that many have that they should take milk immediately they have ulcer pain is wrong, it’s better to depend on antacid.”
Nwaka said that heartburn, constipation and indigestion among others, are symptoms of ulcer and people with these signs to seek medical advice:“If they diagnose that they have ulcer then milk is not the remedy because sometimes they may be doing themselves more harm by taking milk frequently.” The can also seek help from a dietician who would place them on elimination process of dietary management.