GASTRIC ULCER : AGE, SEX, AND A CURIOUS RETROGRESSION

Abstract

Summary The incidence of chronic gastric ulcer increases with age in both sexes. A curious retrogression has occurred in Australia since 1945, involving a sudden exacerbation of chronic gastric ulcer in young women. At the present time women up to the age of 40 years are more likely to die from gastric ulcer than men of the same age. No similar change is yet apparent in other countries. It is probable that an alteration in the environment has been responsible.