title: Lessons from prolonged gastric pH monitoring.
abstract: Intragastric pH monitoring has shown that the distribution of acidity within the stomach is not homogeneous. Not only is it affected by meals but it also has a circadian rhythm in which nocturnal pH falls to very acid levels in normal subjects. Although results of pH monitoring are highly reproducible within individuals, considerable inter-individual variation has been shown. Duodenal ulcer patients do not appear to possess the normal buffering reaction to meals, but their night-time acidity is within the normal range. In these patients, antacids and pirenzepine have a small acid-neutralizing effect in the stomach; cimetidine is less potent than ranitidine and famotidine. Clinicians can choose between a single dose of either ranitidine or famotidine in the evening with dinner and a twice-daily regimen.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bumm
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Blum
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bauerfeind
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Emde
mesh_terms: D005744:Gastric Acid / Q000502:physiology; D005745:Gastric Acidity Determination; D006801:Humans; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D010437:Peptic Ulcer / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology