Letter to the Editor
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 14, 2022; 28(10): 1085-1087
Published online Mar 14, 2022. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i10.1085
Comment “Asymptomatic small intestinal ulcerative lesions: Obesity and Helicobacter pylori are likely to be risk factors”
Wei Wang, Zhi-Peng Li, Juan Zhang, Zi-Jun Lin, Mei-Lin Ma, Si-Si Chen
Wei Wang, Department of Interventional Oncology, Taizhou Municipal Hospital, Taizhou 318000, Zhejiang Province, China
Zhi-Peng Li, Juan Zhang, Zi-Jun Lin, Mei-Lin Ma, Medical College, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, Zhejiang Province, China
Si-Si Chen, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taizhou Women and Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Taizhou 318000, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Wang W, Li ZP, Zhang J, Lin ZJ and Ma ML contributed to the conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, writing of the original draft, writing, reviewing, and editing; Chen SS contributed to the conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, writing the original draft, writing the review, and editing.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Each author stated that there is no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Si-Si Chen, MD, Occupational Physician, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taizhou Women and Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, No. 188, Qianjin Village, Jiajia Street, Jiaojiang District, Taizhou 318000, Zhejiang, China. chensisiobstetrics@126.com
Received: October 20, 2021
Peer-review started: October 20, 2021
First decision: December 12, 2021
Revised: December 13, 2021
Accepted: January 29, 2022
Article in press: January 29, 2022
Published online: March 14, 2022
Processing time: 142 Days and 2.4 Hours
Abstract

There are many causes of anemia. It is unreasonable to simply associate anemia with asymptomatic ulcers in the small intestine.

Keywords: Intrinsic factor; Iron deficiency anemia; Megaloblastic anemia; Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; Statistical bias

Core Tip: Asymptomatic small intestinal ulcers may cause anemia due to vitamin B12 absorption or iron utilization, but anemia can also be caused by other digestive diseases such as gastric ulcer or gastrectomy or other chronic wasting diseases. Establishing a link between anemia symptoms and asymptomatic ulcers in the small intestine requires more extensive data support and other auxiliary examinations. Case reports and small sample investigations are not enough to support this link.