INDIGESTION may sometimes pass, owing to some temporary cause, from the chronic condition to the acute form of gastritis.

The causes of acute gastritis are various. Some particular article of food, such as, for example, mushrooms, mussels, or the skin of a fowl, has proved intractable to the digestive juices, and has remained undigested in the stomach. Here it becomes decomposed, and sets up inflammation of the gastric mucous membrane. Over-eating, or eating food in a state of decomposition, may also induce acute gastritis. The cause is, however, often difficult to discover; for, quite suddenly, a dyspeptic, who is digesting fairly well, may suddenly develop acute gastritis, and the digestive functions become completely suspended.

The symptoms are pain at the pit of the stomach, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and general malaise.

The indications of rational dietetic treatment are two: First, to try and get rid of the substance which is setting up irritation in the stomach; and, secondly, to give the stomach physiological rest, so that it may recover its normal condition.