Helicobacter pylori is an infection that is closely associated with peptic ulcer disease. It took more than a decade before peptic ulcer disease was accepted as an indication for H. pylori eradication therapy.
Introduction
Helicobacter pylori, more commonly referred to as H. pylori, has infected millions of people around the world. For centuries people living with the disease were misdiagnosed with other gastric illnesses. One of the most common misdiagnoses of the gastro-intestinal issues were peptic ulcers. Peptic ulcers were thought to be either stressed induced, a reaction created after patients ate certain spicy foods, or an over use of non-steroidal inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) which are sold and available over the counter. Most individuals …show more content…
Barry J. Marshall was an internist who, in 1981, started his gastroenterology rotation at Royal Perth Hospital and where he met Dr. Warren. Dr. Warren made a list of patients who had curved bacteria on their biopsies and needed help following up with a diagnosis. Dr. Marshall agreed to assist in researching the spiral bacteria in hopes of finding questions on one of his patients having sever stomach pains without a proper diagnoses. It was Dr. Marshall who noticed that cultures from a campylobacter jejuni and the curved microorganism on the cultures taken from the gastro patients were similar. Campylobacter organisms are spiral-shaped bacteria that can cause disease in humans, this illness is more commonly known as food poisoning. Human illness of the Campylobacter results in diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain, and fever within two to five days after exposure to the organism. Dr. Marshall researched thousands of pages of medical books to try and find a link in the spiral organism, its symptoms, and to find an explanation of the correlations to Campylobacter. What he found was astounding, there were many cases of the organisms being reported but extremely vague, giving little to no information. Dr. Warren’s study results of 100 patients found the correlation they were looking for. Out of the 100 patients with gastritis, 25 had gastric spiral bacteria and only 13 patients with a duodenal ulcer had the organism. Both doctors hypothesized that peptic ulcers are caused by …show more content…
Pylori infection has made a dramatic difference in the lives of many Western countries over the past few decades. The H. pylori infection is generally easy to diagnose, using either invasive or non-invasive methods. Dr. Marshall devised the most widely used invasive biopsy-based test named the rapid urease test or the CLO test. The rapid urease test depends on the fact that H. pylori has tons of enzymes and the patient agrees to have an endoscopy. The rapid test has a pH indicator that will change from yellow to red giving a positive result. Breath test for H. pylori is non-invasive with a urea drink solution, it’s simple but requires a spectrometer for analysis to detect the carbon dioxide in breath. The stool test is the most accurate and more importantly, is non-invasive. There are other tests for H. pylori to include: commercial test kits, serological test and surgery. If a patient tests positive for H. pylori, the most popular treatment is a combination of a proton pump inhibitor with two antibiotics, named triple therapy. The eradication rate for this regimen is close to perfect. The downfall to using antibiotics is the mutation of the H. pylori becoming antibiotic-resistant. The strain itself varies from the country it originated from “28% of H. pylori infection in Europe is metronidazole-resistance compared with almost 75% in Africa” (O’Connor 42). The H. pylori infection has issues with eradication in lower socio-economic communities were
Introduction
Helicobacter pylori, more commonly referred to as H. pylori, has infected millions of people around the world. For centuries people living with the disease were misdiagnosed with other gastric illnesses. One of the most common misdiagnoses of the gastro-intestinal issues were peptic ulcers. Peptic ulcers were thought to be either stressed induced, a reaction created after patients ate certain spicy foods, or an over use of non-steroidal inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) which are sold and available over the counter. Most individuals …show more content…
Barry J. Marshall was an internist who, in 1981, started his gastroenterology rotation at Royal Perth Hospital and where he met Dr. Warren. Dr. Warren made a list of patients who had curved bacteria on their biopsies and needed help following up with a diagnosis. Dr. Marshall agreed to assist in researching the spiral bacteria in hopes of finding questions on one of his patients having sever stomach pains without a proper diagnoses. It was Dr. Marshall who noticed that cultures from a campylobacter jejuni and the curved microorganism on the cultures taken from the gastro patients were similar. Campylobacter organisms are spiral-shaped bacteria that can cause disease in humans, this illness is more commonly known as food poisoning. Human illness of the Campylobacter results in diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain, and fever within two to five days after exposure to the organism. Dr. Marshall researched thousands of pages of medical books to try and find a link in the spiral organism, its symptoms, and to find an explanation of the correlations to Campylobacter. What he found was astounding, there were many cases of the organisms being reported but extremely vague, giving little to no information. Dr. Warren’s study results of 100 patients found the correlation they were looking for. Out of the 100 patients with gastritis, 25 had gastric spiral bacteria and only 13 patients with a duodenal ulcer had the organism. Both doctors hypothesized that peptic ulcers are caused by …show more content…
Pylori infection has made a dramatic difference in the lives of many Western countries over the past few decades. The H. pylori infection is generally easy to diagnose, using either invasive or non-invasive methods. Dr. Marshall devised the most widely used invasive biopsy-based test named the rapid urease test or the CLO test. The rapid urease test depends on the fact that H. pylori has tons of enzymes and the patient agrees to have an endoscopy. The rapid test has a pH indicator that will change from yellow to red giving a positive result. Breath test for H. pylori is non-invasive with a urea drink solution, it’s simple but requires a spectrometer for analysis to detect the carbon dioxide in breath. The stool test is the most accurate and more importantly, is non-invasive. There are other tests for H. pylori to include: commercial test kits, serological test and surgery. If a patient tests positive for H. pylori, the most popular treatment is a combination of a proton pump inhibitor with two antibiotics, named triple therapy. The eradication rate for this regimen is close to perfect. The downfall to using antibiotics is the mutation of the H. pylori becoming antibiotic-resistant. The strain itself varies from the country it originated from “28% of H. pylori infection in Europe is metronidazole-resistance compared with almost 75% in Africa” (O’Connor 42). The H. pylori infection has issues with eradication in lower socio-economic communities were