For most people, when feeling stomach discomfort, the first thing to do is have Jian Wei Xiao Shi tablets. They won't consider going to the hospital unless the discomfort is really severe, but this will make them miss the best time for treatment. Many of them have considered stomachache a normal condition, because almost everyone has experienced it, mild or severe. So the "protest" of the stomach is often ignored, and the gastroscopy is seldom considered to be taken.

"I had a gastroscopy yesterday."

"Oh, that must be very uncomfortable."

Many gastric cancer patients ignore stomachache and discomfort for a long time; even if they don't feel well, they are not willing to undergo the gastroscopy that is said to be very uncomfortable — that's how they miss the best time for treatment.

The Dreaded Stomach Cancer Comes Quietly

Stomach cancer is one of the cancers with high incidence in China, and its number of patients ranks the second. China has 400,000 to 500,000 new cases of gastric cancer every year, accounting for 40% of global cases.

Gastric cancer: symptoms are not obvious at the early stage

What makes stomach cancer particularly dangerous is that it does not show obvious symptoms at the early stage and seems not different from some ordinary stomach illnesses. According to the survey, 80% of patients don't find they have gastric cancer until it develops into middle and late stage. What does terminal stomach cancer mean to our body? Without any treatment, 90% of patients with advanced stomach cancer die within a year. Experts once said, without exaggeration: "Early-stage gastric cancer means 90% probability of survival and 10% of death, but advanced gastric cancer is the opposite. "

Gastroscopy: an irreplaceable test for screening gastric cancer

The cure rate for early-stage gastric cancer is pretty high. So how to detect the cancer early? "Gastroscopy + pathological examination" is the irreplaceable, direct and effective way for the screening.

According to clinical data, the cure rate of early-stage gastric cancer is above 90%. In Japan, the rate is even over 98%. Is the Japanese treatment more advanced? No! It's just that the Japanese have already taken gastroscopy as one of the common means of health screening.

In Japan, 12 million people, or 10 percent of the population, take gastroscopy each year; The rate of gastroscopy in China is less than a fifth of that in Japan. It is urgent to increase the gastroscopy rate.

Include the Gastroscopy in Your Health Screening Package

Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was the stomach cancer. Before the cancer is finally diagnosed, the stomach must have suffered a lot. Chronic atrophic gastritis, stomach ulcers, stomach polyps and other gastric diseases that sound familiar are known as "precancerous lesions" ,or illnesses that can develop into stomach cancer.

In 2018, Shanxi Medical University analyzed the gastroscopic examination data of 4,647 healthy people from Tisco Group, and found that 78 % of them had chronic gastritis, including 5.2% chronic atrophic gastritis, 14% peptic ulcer and 10% gastric polyps.

And similar data have been confirmed in many other places and expert surveys. In other words: The risk of stomach cancer is right among us, even among the healthy people, and it can not be ignored. Therefore, many gastroenterologists call on people to add "gastroscopy" in their health screening items.

Especially for the following five groups:

I. Middle-aged people over 40 years old

Middle-aged people, especially men, are at high risk of stomach cancer. Gastroscopy is recommended to be done at least once every three years, regardless of having symptoms or not. The older you are, the more frequently you should take the test, such as at least once a year.

II. Patients with abnormal indicators in physical examination

Many people take physical examination regularly every year. If some abnormal indicators are found, which shows the possibility of stomach disease, further examination is needed.

For example, if there are some abnormalities, such as anemia, helicobacter pylori infection, positive fecal occult blood test result, tumor markers CEA, CA-199, CA-724, and changes in serum pepsinogen concentration, a comprehensive evaluation by the doctor is required to determine whether gastroscopy is necessary for you.

III. Patients with precancerous diseases or lesions of gastric cancer

Patients suffering from atrophic gastritis, gastric polyps, gastric ulcers and other precancerous diseases, or intestinal metaplasia or low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia found in previous physical examination, should be followed up by gastroscopy regularly according to different conditions. It is usually recommended to recheck gastroscopy every six months to one year, and professional doctors should be consulted for specific plans.

IV. People with high risk of stomach cancer

If you have the following conditions in your life, you are likely to be at high risk of stomach cancer, and it is recommended to include gastroscopy in your physical examination.

1. Liking pickled, smoked, barbecued, fried, salty foods and high-end spices;

2. People with pernicious anemia with unknown cause;

3. Smoking and drinking alcohol for a long time, having irregular diet and rest, staying up late and being anxious;

4. Having worked in chemical industry for a long time, such as rubber factory worker;

5. Having family history of cancer;

6. With helicobacter pylori (HP) infection.

V. Having abdominal discomfort and other related symptoms

As mentioned before, the early-stage gastric cancer has no or mild symptoms, just like ordinary gastritis; but when it develops into the middle and late stage, patients will have symptoms like sudden loss of appetite, emaciation, anemia, hematochezia, hematemesis, abdominal lump, or bleeding. If you have these symptoms, go to the hospital to see gastroenterologists immediately, follow the doctor's advice and take gastroscopy for clear diagnosis.