**12.2. UGB**

The incidence of UGB is low in patients treated with GCs alone and without a prior history of bleeding, but notably higher in patients receiving concomitantly anticoagulants and NSAIDs, and those with a history of bleeding. In the presence of different underlying diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, treatment with GCs may represent a more important risk factor for gastrointestinal complications than NSAIDs. In animal studies, GCs have been shown to increase gastric acid secretion, to reduce gastric mucus, to cause gastrin and parietal cell hyperplasia, and to delay the healing of ulcers [118–120].
