The economic potential and the role of aspirin and alcohol ingestion in relation to haematemesis and meleana.

The economic potential and the role of aspirin and alcohol ingestion have been explored in relation to acute upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage complicating duodenal ulcer disease or portal hypertension. Of special interest in the study was the clear indication of the relevance of socioeconomic impact in the haemorrhage patients, the majority of whom were found to belong to the class of unskilled wage earners. Though a history of regular ingestion of salicylate compounds and alcohol was commonly obtained on specific questioning, only in six of the thirty-one patients could the onset of the overt haemorrhage be attributed to adverse synergism between these two groups of drugs.