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In an Instagram post published a few days ago, youtuber and influencer Léna Mahfouf announced to her community that she had been hospitalized because of an ulcer. The 25-year-old took the opportunity to alert her fans to the effects of stress on health. If stress can aggravate an ulcer, it is in more than 90% of cases linked to the presence of a bacterium, helicobacter pylori.
Léna Situations became known by posting videos of her daily life on Youtube. In just a few years, she has managed to establish herself as the most famous youtuber in France but also the most coveted by brands thanks to a community of more than 4 million people on Instagram and 2.5 million people on Youtube. Creation of a brand, videos, documentaries, promotion of products on social networks, invitations to fashion shows of luxury brands… The Parisian leads a life at 100 per hour but she has recently paid a high price.
Léna Mahfouf (her real name) was hospitalized for an ulcer “which has been accentuated by stress and anxiety“, two troubles “already present” in his life “For years”. She accompanied her message with two photos showing her on a hospital bed, her face tired. An ulcer is a wound that forms in the stomach lining. It is favored by a hypersecretion of acid by the stomach, but not only.
Léna Situations has also published a Youtube video in which she discusses the limits of pressure, anxiety and ambition.
Ulcer: certain drugs and the bacterium Helicobacter pylori most often involved
Léna Situations evokes her stress and her chronic anxiety to explain the occurrence of her ulcer. But in reality, the two main causes of ulcers are taking aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and the bacteria Helicobacter pylori. “Helicobacter pylori infection is present in 85% of cases of gastric ulcer and in 95% of cases of duodenal ulcer”, indicates the French National Society of Gastroenterology (SNFGE). Taking medication (aspirin or NSAIDs) inhibits enzymes that protect the gastric walls by blocking the production of acid by the stomach. This inhibition of defense mechanisms promotes inflammation of the stomach lining. To this can be added the presence of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori which promotes chronic gastritis by stimulating acid production. In concrete terms, this bacterium secretes an enzyme which transforms urea into ammonia, an acidic substance which “attacks the cells of the gastric wall, which triggers the formation of an ulcer”, explains the SNFGE. The ulcer is therefore favored by the acid hypersecretion of the stomach but also by a lack of protection of the mucous membrane.
“No psychological factor is involved in the appearance of ulcers”
If stress is not directly responsible for the appearance of an ulcer, it can induce or accentuate gastric pain. This explains why for a very long time it was believed that ulcers in the stomach and duodenum (upper part of the small intestine) were caused by stress. “No psychological factor is involved in the appearance of ulcers”, insists the SNFGE.