extensive intestinal metaplasia

Hi I am a 33 year old female and I was diagnosed with extensive intestinal metaplasia. Can someone please help me? I did an endoscopy in Nov 2010 and found out that I have extensive intestinal metaplasia. Is this reversible? The doctor said that i don't have H Peliori virus.  My question is 1) what could have possibly caused it 2) is this reversible? if it is, what should I eat and what medication should I be on? 3) I am really scared that this will turn in to stomac cancer. I heard that after 6 monhts of endoscopy, it is possible that this could turn into stomach cancer. 4) lastly, what should i do in terms of eating and diet? I don't want to worsen this situation. Should I eat a lot of antioxidants?

please help me. I don't know what to do..

ann

[CalGal]

The most common type of intestinal-type metaplasia is due to H. pylori. The other types seem to be correlated to irradiation, atrophic gastritis, bile reflux, genetic links, lack of vitamin C and cigarette smoking  from what I understand.

Sit down with your doc and discuss this. Any form of medication would be related to what the specific cause turns out to be.

[stdinfo]

Hi. I'm a researcher on gastric cancer, and just to note I'm a PhD, not an MD, and I'm just a member on this forum (not a moderator), but I could give you my two cents.

Ask your Dr about "autoimmune atrophic gastritis" in which case your acid-secreting (parietal cells) or pepsinogen-secretion (chief cells) are attacked by your own immune system. This leads to high gastrin levels, which could lead to intestinal metaplasia.  

If I was you, at this stage I would 1) discuss with my Dr getting tested for autoimmune gastritis (it's a blood test for antibodies against parietal and chief cells), BUT more importantly 2) ask my Dr to measure your gastrin levels.  If your gastrin levels are high, this could give some clue as to what might be causing your condition. These are fairly quick tests, but at the same time you should discuss other possibilities for causes with your Dr at the same time.

[stdinfo]

The test for bile reflux is more complicated, but you should talk to your Dr about doing tests and finding out what the underlying cause is

[Monhegun]

Hi, I was diagnosed of gastric antral type mucosa with mild chronic gastritis, focal intestinal metaplasia (negative for dysplasia) and junctional glandular mucosa with mild chronic inflammation.  I feel kind of burning around my chest especially in the middle of the night when my stomach is empty.  Sometimes, the pain is even radiated to my upper back and shoulder blades.  My doctor said that I have acid reflux and prescribed me "Dexilant 60mg" once daily.  I took it for almost 2 weeks.  Somtimes it works but sometimes it doesn't (because I still wake up in the middle of the night due to back pain caused by excessive acid)  Can mild chronic gastritis and inflammation of junction glandular mucosa be cured?  Per my endoscopy report, giemsa stain is negative for H. Pylori.  If my chronic gastritis is not caused by H. Pylori, what other causes will there be?  I was so worried that focal intestinal metaplasia will developed into cancer, how can I prevent it?  Also, if my acid reflux is cured, does it mean that chronic gastritis will also be cured?  I asked my doctor and she said that it's hard to find the cause of the gastritis.  Should I go to the hospital to request test for autoimmune gastritis and gastrin level test.

I was worried for a while.  Please help and advise.

Thanks

[Idas]

Your symptoms are very similar to mine. I too have chronic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, and no H pylori.  My doctor gave me very little information.  He said the metaplasia will not go away but he feels should not cause any problems. That is not good enough for me.   Nothing helps my acid reflux - I have tried all medications, lost weight, raised my bed, and the doctor just ignors that.  I think I have bile reflux which would make sense because these meds do not work on bile reflux and bile reflux causes intestinal metaplasia from what I read.  I asked my doctor the same questions you did and got no answers.  My sister died of stomach cancer so I am scared.  I am going for a second opinion and hope I can get some of my questions answered.  If you learn anything, please let me know and I will do the same.

[Idas]

Your symptoms are very similar to mine. I too have chronic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, and no H pylori.  My doctor gave me very little information.  He said the metaplasia will not go away but he feels should not cause any problems. That is not good enough for me.   Nothing helps my acid reflux - I have tried all medications, lost weight, raised my bed, and the doctor just ignors that.  I think I have bile reflux which would make sense because these meds do not work on bile reflux and bile reflux causes intestinal metaplasia from what I read.  I asked my doctor the same questions you did and got no answers.  My sister died of stomach cancer so I am scared.  I am going for a second opinion and hope I can get some of my questions answered.  If you learn anything, please let me know and I will do the same.