Physical activity and peptic ulcers - Does physical activity reduce the risk of developing peptic ulcers?

Background Although Helicobacter pylori has been identified as a major caus e of chronic gastritis, not all infected patients develop ulcers, suggestin g that other factors such as lifestyle may be critical to the development o f ulcer disease. . Obiective To investigate the role physical activity may play in the incidence of peptic ulcer disease. . Methods The participants w ere men (n = 8,529) and women (n = 2,884) who attended the Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research, Dallas, Texas, between 1970 and 1990. The presence of gastric or duodenal ulcer disease diagnosed by a physician was determine d from a mail survey in 1990. Participants were classified into 3 physical activity groups according to information provided at the baseline clinic vi sit (before 1990): active, those who walked or ran 10 miles or more a week; moderately active, those who walked or ran less than 10 miles a week or di d another regular activity; and the referent group consisting of those who reported no regular physical activity. . Results With the use of gender-spe cific proportional hazards regression models that could be adjusted for age , smoking, alcohol use, body mass index, and self-reported tension, active men had a significantly reduced risk for duodenal ulcers (relative hazard [ 95% confidence interval] for the active group, 0.38 [0.15-0.94], and 0.54 [ 0.30-0.96] for the moderately active group). No association was found betwe en physical activity and gastric ulcers for men or for either type of ulcer for women. a Conclusion Physical activity may provide a nonpharmacologic m ethod of reducing the incidence of duodenal ulcers among men.