Peptic ulcer in Greenland Inuit: evidence for a low prevalence of duodenal ulcer

In an eight years period new peptic ulcer was diagnosed in 127 Inuit patients at the Central Hospital, Dronning Ingrids Hospital, Nuuk/Godthåb. The ratios: duodenal ulcers (DU): prepyloric ulcers (PPU): gastric ulcers (GU) were 17:22:88. The male:female ratio was 2:1. 46 of the patients were living permanently in Nuuk, 81 in The Districts. There were no significant differences in the type of ulcers among the two groups. The incidence of GU among the Nuuk population was comparable to the incidence in the Danish population (0.63/1000 inhabitants per year), whereas the mean age at the time of diagnosis was only 45 years, thus the patients were approximately 15 years younger than the Danish counterparts. The incidence of DU among the Inuits was 0.15/1000 inhabitants per year, significantly less than in the Danish population. The frequency of Helicobacter (H.) pylori infection among 56 Inuits with dyspeptic symptoms was: 0.61. Only 6/12 patients suffering from DU had a positive test for H. pylori infection.

The incidence of duodenal ulcers in the Inuit population was only 10% of the incidence in a Danish population, whereas the incidence of gastric ulcers among the Inuits was comparable to the incidence among Danes. Only 50% of Inuit patients with proven DU had a positive test for H. pylori infection, whereas the frequency of H.pylori infection in a population with dyspeptic symptoms corresponded very well to the frequency reported from other populations.