The diagnosis of chronic, nonspecific gastritis has been obsolete for thirty years. Recent histologic and gastroscopic research have shown that chronic inflammation of the stomach is very common.
Bensley, Faber,1 Konjetzny2 and others have made extensive contributions to the knowledge of the histology of the stomach. However, the normal histologic picture is still debatable. Specimens from healthy normal stomachs are rarely obtained because postmortem changes alter the picture, and healthy stomachs are not resected. Some workers, comparing the mucosa of infants to that of adults, believe that every adult has chronic gastritis. This is as false as saying that every adult has chronic appendicitis because microscopically there is a round cell infiltration. We believe that these minor histologic changes in the stomach are not evidence of active disease but are the normal reaction of the stomach to such stimuli as hot or cold food, infectious diseases, and the