The stomach is a bag of muscle and these muscles crushes and mixes food with the digestive juices like hydrochloric acid and pepsin. There are several causes of stomach cancer. To name a few are previous exposure to radiation, bacterial infection caused by Helicobacter pylori, pernicious anemia, stomach surgery, as well as genetic factors that cause predisposition to the disease. Helicobacter pylori infections now thought to be responsible for most cases of stomach cancer involving the bottom half of the stomach. Stomach cancer near the junction between the esophagus and the stomach is not usually related to Helicobacter pylori infection.
Avoidance of stomach cancer may also be possible by proper diet and vitamin supplementation. Smoked foods, pickled vegetables, salted fish, excessive dietary salt, foods with nitrates such as lunch meat and hotdogs as well as charcoal broiled foods, produce nitrosamines that cause cancer.
Possible signs of stomach cancer (please remember that these signs can show up in other conditions that are much less serious as well).
Early Stage Signs
Indegestion or a burning sensation (heartburn)
Loss of appetite, especially for meat
Later Stage Signs
Abdominal pain or discomfort in the upper abdomen
Nausea and vomiting
Diarrhea or constipation
Bloating of the stomach after meals
Weight loss
Weakness and fatigue
Bleeding (vomiting blood or having blood in the stool), which can lead to anemia
Dysphagia (the inability to swallow); this feature suggests a tumor in the cardia or extension of the gastric tumor in to the esophagus
Diet:
Curcumin - Curcumin from Tumeric is both a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammator, both of which fight the effects of free radical generation and inflammation caused by infection with HP.
Probiotics - Another study published in the journal "Nutrition" in 2003 found that the probiotic lactobacillus both reduced the need for antibiotic treatment of HP and made the antibiotic treatment more effective as well.
Green Tea Extract - findings in the February 2008 issue of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention indicated that the EGCG component of green tea extract decreased the risk of stomach cancer in women by 75% yet slightly increased the risk in men.
Vitamin C - Research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people with higher levels of vitamin C intake had lower levels of HP and lower incidence of both gastric ulcers and stomach cancer.
L-Glutamine - In the May 2008 issue of the Journal of Nutrition reported results concluded that L-glutamine may prove beneficial in offsetting gastric damage caused by H. pylori infection.
