Q: I have a grumbling stomach, which seems to tell me that I need to eat. On doing this I still suffer from loud noises all the time. In the morning, I pass my motions twice and they were black. Do I need to go to the doctors?

A:Your symptoms are very suggestive of duodenal ulcer and one of the classical symptoms is excessive hunger due to increased acid secretion. Secondly the fact that you have noticed black stools would mean that you could be having a very active ulcer, which is bleeding slowly; so consult a specialist without delay for an endoscopy for diagnosis as well as biopsies to test for the bacteria - H. pylori, which is associated with duodenal ulcer. You then have to go on ulcer healing, triple therapy, which will help to get rid of the bacteria as well and scientific evidence have shown almost total cure.