Have you ever encountered stomach pains that doesn’t disappear in a couple of the weeks?...CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
This might be a disease called H.Pyroli!
What’s H.pyroli?
H. pylori is a common type of bacteria that attacks the stomach lining. It’s usually passed from person to person. If you develop an H. pylori infection, you may not have any signs or symptoms. But it can lead to peptic ulcers, gastritis, and even certain types of stomach cancer.
WHAT CAUSES H,PIROLI?
Researchers aren’t sure how H. pylori spreads. They think that it may spread by unclean food and water, or through contact with an infected person’s saliva and other body fluids.
A peptic ulcer causes a dull or burning pain in your stomach, especially when you have an empty stomach. It lasts for minutes to hours, and it may come and go for several days or weeks. It may also cause other symptoms, such as bloating, nausea, and weight loss.
If you have the symptoms of a peptic ulcer, your health care provider will check to see whether you have H. pylori. There are blood, breath, and stool tests to check for H. pylori. In some cases, you may need an upper endoscopy, often with a biopsy.
H. PYLORI DIAGNOSIS
There are several ways to diagnose H. pylori. The most commonly used tests include the following:
Breath tests — Breath tests (known as urea breath tests) require that you drink a specialized solution containing a substance that is broken down by the H. pylori bacterium. The breakdown products can be detected in your breath.
Stool tests — Tests are available that detect H. pylori proteins in stool.
Blood tests — Blood tests can detect specific antibodies (proteins) that the body’s immune system develops in response to the H. pylori bacterium. However, concerns over its accuracy have limited its use.
H. PYLORI TREATMENT
People with a history of peptic ulcer disease, active gastric ulcer, or active duodenal ulcer associated with H. pylori infection should be treated. Successful treatment of H. pylori can help the ulcer to heal, prevent ulcers from coming back, and reduce the risk of ulcer complications (like bleeding). Guidelines recommend that patients who require long-term anti-inflammatory medications such as aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, and similar drugs treatment for arthritis and other medical conditions should be tested for H. pylori and if infected undergo treatment to eradicate the H. pylori infection [1,2].
Medications — No single drug cures H. pylori infection. Most treatment regimens involve taking several medications for 14 days.
●Most of the treatment regimens include a medication called a proton pump inhibitor. This medication decreases the stomach’s production of acid, which allows the tissues damaged by the infection to heal. Examples of proton pump inhibitors include lansoprazole (Prevacid), omeprazole (Prilosec), pantoprazole (Protonix), rabeprazole (AcipHex), dexlansoprazole (Dexilant), and esomeprazole (Nexium).
●Two antibiotics are also generally recommended; this reduces the risk of treatment failure and antibiotic resistance.
●There are increasing numbers of patients with H. pylori infection that is resistant to antibiotics, so it is important to take all the medications prescribed for the entire course, typically 10 to 14 days, and then have a test that confirms that the infection has been cleared.
Side effects — Up to 50 percent of patients have side effects while taking H. pylori treatment. Side effects are usually mild, and fewer than 10 percent of patients stop treatment because of side effects. For those who do experience side effects, it may be possible to make adjustments in the dose or timing of medication. Some of the most common side effects are described below.
●Some of the treatment regimens use a medication called metronidazole (Flagyl) or clarithromycin (Biaxin). These medications can cause a metallic taste in the mouth and nausea.
●Alcoholic beverages (eg, beer, wine) should be avoided while taking metronidazole; the combination can cause skin flushing, headache, nausea, vomiting, sweating, and a rapid heart rate.
●Bismuth, which is contained in some of the regimens, causes the stool to become black and may cause constipation.
●Many of the regimens cause diarrhea and stomach cramps.
Treatment failure — Up to 20 percent of patients with H. pylori infection are not cured after completing their first course of treatment. A second treatment regimen is usually recommended in this case. Retreatment usually requires that the patient take 14 days of a proton pump inhibitor plus two antibiotics and bismuth subsalicylate (“quadruple therapy”). At least one of the antibiotics is different from those used in the first treatment course.
