Can chronic gastritis be completely cured, and how long does it take for symptoms to resolve?

Doctor's Answer

Photo of Dr Wai Leong Quan
Dr Wai Leong Quan

Gastroenterologist

Chronic gastritis is a term commonly seen in biopsy report on tissue specimens obtained from an upper digestive endoscopy examination. This usually implies mild chronic inflammation seen under the microscope which does not necessarily correlate well with the symptoms you have. In order words, chronic gastritis may resolve while your symptoms persist and vice versa.

In actual fact, it is difficult to ensure a complete recovery from chronic gastritis since more tissue specimens will be needed at a later date to confirm this point. Unless a repeat upper endoscopy is anticipated, it is practically impossible to know for sure.

The good news is there is no real need to ensure a complete recovery from chronic gastritis since this is a very common finding with little clinical significance. What concerns your doctor more will be the other changes (e.g. intestinal metaplasia, Barrett's oesophagus) found in the biopsy specimens. He or she will also be more interested to know if your symptoms respond to treatment provided and whether further investigations are required to rule out other sinister medical conditions.

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