How Common are Gastritis and Gastropathy

H. Pylori gastritis is the most common type of gastritis, and nearly everyone who is infected with H. pylori develops chronic gastritis. About half of the world’s population is infected with H. pylori bacteria, and this infection is more common in developing countries than in developed countries.

About 35 percent of the U.S. population is infected with H. pylori. H. Pylori infection and gastritis are more common in older people than in younger people. While the bacterial infection most often begins during childhood, H. pylori infection has become less common in the United States over time. H. pylori infection is present in about 10 to 15 percent of U.S. children younger than age 12 and in about 50 to 60 percent of U.S. adults older than age 60.

In the United States, H. pylori infection is more common among African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, American Indians, and Alaska Natives than among non-Hispanic whites. Compared with people born in the United States, immigrants to the United States from areas where H. pylori infection is more common, such as Asia and Central and South America, are more likely to have H. pylori.

Reactive Gastropathy, caused by contact with irritating substances, is also relatively common, affecting about 15 percent of people in the United States. Reactive gastropathy is more common in people who take NSAIDs and is more common in older people than in younger people. In the United States, reactive gastropathy is present in about 2 percent of children younger than age 10 and in more than 20 percent of adults older than age 80.

Autoimmune gastritis is more common in people who have other autoimmune disorders, including type 1 diabetes, Addison’s disease, and autoimmune thyroid diseases such as Hashimoto’s disease.

References:
1. NIH
2. NIDDK

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