Gastritis Causes

Gastritis is associated with various medications, medical and surgical conditions, physical stresses, social habits, chemicals, and infections. Some of the more common causes of gastritis are listed here.

Medications

• Aspirin (more than 300 drug products contain some form of aspirin)
  
  
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, such as ibuprofen or naproxen)
  
  
• Steroids (prednisone is one example)
  
  
• Potassium supplements
  
  
• Iron tablets
  
  
• Cancer chemotherapy medications

Swallowing poisons or objects

• Corrosives (acid or lye)
  
  
• Alcohols of various types
  
  
• Swallowed foreign bodies (paper clips or pins)

Medical and surgical conditions

• Physical stress in people who are critically ill or injured
  
  
• After medical procedures (such as endoscopy, in which a specialist looks into the stomach with a small lighted tube)
  
  
• After an operation to remove part of the stomach
  
  
• After radiation treatment for cancer
  
  
• Autoimmune diseases
  
  
• Pernicious anemia
  
  
• Chronic vomiting

Infections

• Tuberculosis
  
  
• Syphilis
  
  
• Bacterial infections: H pylori infection is the most common. Many other bacteria-even those that usually cause pneumonia or bladder infections-can cause gastritis.
  
  
• Viral infections
  
  
• Fungal (yeast) infections
  
  
• Parasites and worms