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Robert M. Russell, MD
Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University Boston, Mass

JAMA. 1997;278(20):1659.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.

—The article on gastric acidity in older adults by Dr Hurwitz and colleagues¹ is of great interest. It is well known that hypochlorhydria does not often result in the colonization of the upper gastrointestinal tract with bacterial pathogens.² However, hypochlorhydria due to atrophic gastritis can result in malabsorption of food-bound vitamin B₁₂, and this continues to be a public health concern.^3,4

We studied the prevalence of atrophic gastritis in a white elderly population approximately 12 years ago and found the overall prevalence of atrophic gastritis in those older than 60 years to be approximately 30%.⁵ This contrasts with the 9% prevalence of atrophic gastritis in the Midwest population in the present study using the same criterion for diagnosis.¹ Unlike the study by Hurwitz et al, our study found the prevalence of atrophic gastritis to increase with advancing age. In Boston, Mass . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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