Home  Helicobacter pylori
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Helicobacter pylori
| Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is the name of a bacterium that can cause chronic inflammation (called gastritis) and ulcers of the lining of the stomach in humans. | | |
It is involved in acid-related diseases such as peptic ulcer and dyspepsia. It may also be a factor in the development of some stomach cancers.
This bacterium is the most common cause of ulcers worldwide. One out of 6 patients with H. pylori infection will develop an ulcer of the duodenum (part of the small bowel as it leaves the stomach) or the stomach itself. Infection is more likely if there is too much acid present in the stomach because this encourages the growth of the bacterium, which is well suited to these conditions.
5 - 10% of the world’s population suffer at least once in their life from a peptic ulcer. Infection with H. pylori is the major cause of peptic ulcer disease and also a risk factor for cancer of the stomach. Many people who have the bacterium have no symptoms at all.
Infected persons usually carry the infection for life, unless medications are administered to eradicate the bacteria.
Today, H. pylori can be successfully eradicated using a combination of certain antibiotics and medicines that suppress stomach acid production, such as proton pump inhibitors, which work upon cells in the stomach wall to reduce the amount of acid released into the stomach chamber (see also: GERD; reflux esophagitis; dyspepsia; peptic ulcer).
In most people such treatment will get rid of the infection. However, it might come back later in some people.
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