Khat chewing is a risk factor of duodenal ulcer

Khat chewing is a risk factor of duodenal ulcerSir, Duodenal ulcer is estimated to affect 10% of the population during some time in their life. 1 Duodenal ulcer was found in 14% at the Endoscopy Department in Riyadh Military Hospital. 2 No national figure was traced in recent literature about the situation in Yemen.But increases in attendants at hospitals with duodenal ulcer are noticed.Vast majorities of them are khat chewers.Khat is a plant known scientifically as Catha ediulis forsk.Its fresh leaves only are used for chewing.Khat chewing is a very common habit in Yemeni society.It is chewed also in southern parts of Saudi Arabia 3 and in several east African countries.Recently khat appeared in USA and several European countries. 4 Duodenal ulcer is a multi factorial disease, with many known risk factors, eg.genetic predisposition, blood group, HLAP, 5 colonization of Helicobacter pylori, 6 smoking, NSAID and alcohol consumption. 5Khat chewing was found to be associated with gastritis, delayed gastric emptying and decreased gastric cell secretion.Daily khat chewing was found associated with high prevalence of Helicobacter pylori and duodenal ulcer, especially in women.However, the study was of small sample size (n= 28) and was not controlled for.Current study was designed to explore association between khat chewing and duodenal ulcer.Analytical design was employed in this study with