A gastric ulcer or a duodenal ulcer is an open sore in the lining of your stomach or of the duodenum, where acids are found. When you have an ulcer in your stomach, the proper medical term is gastric ulcer. If it is found in the duodenum, it is called a duodenal ulcer.

Some time ago, the cause of an ulcer was thought to be lifestyle. If you had a busy life, filled with stress and did not have time to eat properly, those were the main reasons doctors believed cause ulcer. Later, more research was made and they came to the conclusion that the amount of acid in your stomach was another strong cause of ulcer formation. This was the general thought, until an Australian researcher discovered the H pylori bacteria. This is now thought to be the main cause of an ulcer. Although, your lifestyle, acids and pepsin play a very big part in causing an ulcer, the most important cause of the ulcer is today the bacteria. Almost ninety percent of the people that suffer from an ulcer also have this bacteria in their bodies. H pylori produces some substances that have an important in weakening your stomach' s coating, which protects it. This way, the stomach is more susceptible to the effects of the acids and pepsin, leading to an ulcer. Besides this main cause of an ulcer, there are a few more factors that contributed in the development of an ulcer.

Smoking is one of those factors. Many studies have shown that if you are a smoker, the risk of developing an ulcer is greater. Furthermore, smoking slows down the healing process of your ulcer and even increases the risk of the ulcer recurrence. Caffeine is also an "friend " of the ulcer. It can stimulate the secretion of acid in your stomach, thus further agravating the already existing ulcer. Alcohol is another enemy of the life without an ulcer. There is no certain proof that alcohol and ulcer are highly related, but studies show that the number of people that suffer from a liver damage linked to consumption of alcohol also suffer from an ulcer.