What is Helicobacter Pylori?
Helicobacter Pylori is a bacterium found in the gastrointestinal tract of up to 60% or 2/3 of the world’s population. Most individuals who are infected with it will not develop symptoms or be affected by it. However, H. Pylori can cause several gastrointestinal disorders including ulcers, stomach cancer and chronic gastritis (inflammation of the stomach).
The bacterium releases enzymes that allow it to invade the lining of the stomach and the first part of the small intestine called the duodenum. These areas are then more vulnerable to damage from the stomach’s digestive acid, and this in turn may cause chronic inflammation in the stomach (gastritis) or duodenum (duodenitis), and sometimes leading to ulcer formation.
What are the risk factors for contracting a H. Pylori infection?
The actual source of H. Pylori infection is unknown but thought to include swimming in or drinking fecal contaminated water, or eating uncooked vegetables. Proper precautions that should always be taken include good hand washing technique (15-30 seconds with antibacterial soap), drinking clean water from a reliable source and eating only well cooked foods.
What are the symptoms of an H. Pylori infection?
Symptoms of H. Pylori infection include the following:
• Upper abdominal pain (often described as a burning or gnawing pain)
• Nausea and/or vomiting
• Decreased appetite
• Dark stools (blood passed from the stomach through the intestines produces dark stools)
• Fatigue
• Anemia
• Bloating
How is H. pylori diagnosed?
H. Pylori can be diagnosed in a number of ways including blood tests that look for antibodies that have been made by the body in response to the infection. Other tests include stool studies that detect proteins produced by the bacterium and a breath test. The breath test involves swallowing a substance that is degraded by the bacteria and then can be detected by sampling a patient’s breath.
Another more invasive method is endoscopy where a specialized flexible tube is placed through the mouth, pass the esophagus and into the stomach. The tube contains a camera and light that allow the physician to view the esophagus, stomach and duodenum and take biopsies for H. Pylori testing. Typically however, endoscopy is used to investigate or monitor other conditions such as abdominal pain, ulcers or stomach cancer not just to test for H. Pylori.
How is H. pylori treated?
H. Pylori is treated with a combination of at least two antibiotics and a proton-pump inhibitor for 7 to 14 days. The combination of medications has about a 90% cure rate when the patient takes all the medication as prescribed. Sometimes, the individual may require a second treatment because of the bacteria’s resistance to the antibiotics. The second treatment regimen should contain different antibiotics than the first.
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