CLINICAL study has shown that antacids are the most important single factor in controlling gastric pain and discomfort due to hyperacidity and peptic ulcer. A review of medical literature and advertisements by pharmaceutic companies reveals that physicians have been led to believe that antacids, especially aluminum gels and magnesium trisilicate, have an astringent and protective coating action on the gastric mucosa. There has been no definite proof brought forward to substantiate or refute the suggestion that aluminum gels have an astringent or coating effect on the mucosa of the stomach.
Ivy and his associates1 have called attention to the fact that the aluminum combines with the gastric mucus to form a flaky precipitate, which adheres to the mucosa of the stomach and duodenum. A film of this nature would serve as a physical protection to the mucosa and exert an antacid action as well. In animals that had received