Helicobacter pylori and peptic ulcer disease

Article Abstract:

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a microorganism that is found only in the mucus membranes that line the stomach. It is never found in the blood or other parts of the body. Over the last several years it has been recognized that H. pylori occurs more frequently in patients with gastric or duodenal ulcers, and the majority of patients with these types of ulcers have H. pylori infection. Also, H. pylori is believed to cause gastritis (inflammation of the membranes lining the stomach), and patients with H. pylori and duodenal ulcers make more acid in their stomachs. Infection with H. pylori is likely to be transmitted from person to person because infections tend to run in families and among gastroenterologists, who specialize in gastrointestinal diseases, there is twice the expected incidence of infection. It is not known how it is spread because it has not been found in food, water, animals, stool samples or the mouth. Factors associated with an increased incidence of H. pylori infection include increasing age (occurring in 10 percent of people under the age of 30 and in 60 percent of those over the age of 60), ethnicity and race (especially Hispanic Americans and blacks), low socioeconomic class, and residence in custodial institutions. The standard procedure used for detecting H. pylori involves taking a tissue sample from the lining of the stomach by means of a procedure called endoscopy. A portion of the sample is placed on a culture plate to see what microorganisms will grow, and another portion of the sample is stained with a special dye that will tell if H. pylori is present in the sample. Infection with H. pylori is not easy to treat and there is no single treatment that permanently eliminates the infection. The standard treatments used for ulcers are not effective against H. pylori. A combination of bismuth and metronidazole seems to be the most effective treatment, but some forms of H. pylori have been found to be resistant to metronidazole. Further studies are needed to find a suitable treatment for H. pylori infection. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Causes of, Risk factors, Disease transmission, Helicobacter infections, Duodenal ulcer, Gastritis

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Therapy for bleeding peptic ulcers

Article Abstract:

It may be premature to recommend proton-pump inhibitors for patients with a bleeding peptic ulcer. Proton-pump inhibitors suppress stomach acid and are used to treat ulcers. A 1997 study showed that one such drug, omeprazole, reduced the risk of re-bleeding and also the need for surgery in a group of patients with bleeding peptic ulcer. However, the Indian patients were younger than most US patients and had fewer concurrent illnesses. The characteristics of peptic ulcer disease in India may also be different.

Health aspects, Editorial, Complications and side effects, Gastrointestinal bleeding, Gastrointestinal hemorrhage, Peptic ulcer, Omeprazole

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The Helicobacter pylori genome - new insights into pathogenesis and therapeutics

Article Abstract:

The same techniques used to sequence the entire set of human genes can be used to sequence bacterial genes. In 1997, researchers used these techniques to sequence the genes of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. This bacterium appears to live only in the human stomach and has been implicated in peptic ulcer formation. Analysis of the genes may indicate potential targets on the bacterium for drugs and vaccines.

Genetic aspects

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