Peptic ulcer disease is common. It refers to open sores that develop in the gut lining of the stomach, upper small intestine or oesophagus. The sores develop when the acidic digestive juice secreted by the stomach cells corrode the lining of the organs.
The peptic ulcer is named accordingly to where in the body it occurs — gastric ulcer when it develops in stomach, duodenal ulcer when it develops in the first part of small intestines/duodenum and oesophagus ulcer when it develops at the lower section of oesophagus. Oesophagus ulcers are often associated with chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).