Helicobacter Pylori is the primary cause of ulcers and cancers of the stomach and duodenum, causing 80 to 90 percent of ulcers at these sites according to statistics quoted by the University of Maryland College of Medicine. For most people who harbor H. Pylori after the bacteria enters their body in early childhood, it is harmless, but certain factors can allow it to become a pathogen, or disease-producing agent.
Bacterial Type
There are several strains of H. Pylori bacteria and according to the analysis of Japanese gastroenterologists in the May 2007 issue of "The Journal of Immunology," among these, VacA-
H. Pylori is the most virulent. This means it is the one that can best survive the strongly acidic environment in the stomach and burrow into the gastric mucosa which lines the stomach. There it ulcerates the tissue, replacing healthy cells and stimulating the body's immune response. Testing can determine which strain is present and future treatments will be aimed at eliminating VacA.
Alcohol Inhibits H. Pylori
Moderate drinking inhibits the activity of H. Pylori although it can also make people with an ulcer feel the pain more acutely. Research conducted by Dr. Liam J. Murray of The Queen's University of Belfast, Ireland, and published in the 2002 issue of the "American Journal of Gastroenterology," demonstrated that people who drank three to six glasses of wine or three to six half pints of beer per week had an 11 percent lower risk of H. pylori infection compared to those who did not drink at all. Dr. Lam's team found that this was because beer and wine destroyed H. Pylori and decreased the inflammatory response. It was not determined the number of weeks needed for H. Pylori to be eliminated completely from the body.
Salt Increases Virulence
Gastric cancer has been linked to H. Pylori and researchers at Vanderbilt University believe they know why. The H. Pylori gene called CagA is turned on in the presence of a high concentration of salt in the stomach. They found that salt increases the risk of gastric ulcerations that can become cancerous in two ways. Salt strengthens the bacteria, making it very invasive and damaging and simultaneously it alters the body's immune response, making it harder for the body to fight off the damage.
Smoking and Intestinal Cancer
When the small intestine is infected with a highly virulent strain of H. Pylori, such as VacA, and then those cells are exposed to the ingredients in cigarette smoke, the combination increases the risk of cancer in this area, according to the work of epidemiologists at the Medical University in Porto, Portugal, published in the February 2007 edition of "Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention." Since ulcers in the stomach are very common in people with intestinal H. Pylori, people with this disease should be cautioned not to smoke and smokers should be offered testing and antibiotic treatment for gastric ulcer.
References
- University of Maryland: Digestive Disorders, Ulcers
- "Journal of Immunology"; Molecular characterization of Helicobacter pylori VacA; Junzo Hisatsune, et al.; 2008
- "American Journal of Gastroenterology"; Inverse relationship between alcohol consumption and active Helicobacter pylori infection; L. J. Lam, et al.; 2002
- "Cancer Research"; Regulation of Helicobacter pylori CagA expression in response to salt; John Loe, et al.; May 2007
- "Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention"; Smoking, Helicobacter pylori virulence, and type of intestinal metaplasia in Portuguese males; B. Peleterio, et al.; February 2007
