Helicobacter pylori is the main culprit of many stomach diseases. According to statistics, the infection rate of Helicobacter pylori in China is very high at present, 47% in cities and 66% in rural areas, almost one in two!
However, 70% of gastric ulcer patients and almost all duodenal patients can detect Helicobacter pylori infection.
This is a very astonishing number, then the question arises:
Can Helicobacter pylori be transmitted to family members?
Can Helicobacter pylori infection develop gastric cancer?
How to deal with this infection correctly?
After reading today’s article, you will know.
How did you catch Helicobacter pylori?
The online statement that “one person has stomach trouble and spreads it to the whole family” is somewhat bluffing, but there is some truth.
Helicobacter pylori infection often has family aggregation. Eating together, kissing and sharing toothbrushes are all likely to be contagious.
Measures such as using public chopsticks, using one’s own toothbrush, paying attention to washing hands and cleaning food dishes can reduce the risk of Helicobacter pylori transmission to a certain extent.
More attention should be paid to children, because epidemiological data show that the vast majority of Helicobacter pylori infection occurs under the age of 5.
Some elders have the habit of chewing food and feeding it to their children. This bad habit should be changed immediately.
Infected with Helicobacter pylori
What’s performance?
Most of the infected people with Helicobacter pylori have no symptoms of what. A small number of infected people will have symptoms such as early satiety and abdominal distension.
Helicobacter pylori infection is closely related to digestive tract ulcer, and irregular diet and taking certain drugs will further increase this risk, so people with [old stomach trouble] should be careful.
What about… Gastric cancer?
Infected with Helicobacter pylori
Will it definitely lead to gastric cancer?
Helicobacter pylori is indeed a category 1 carcinogen, which does not mean that infected with Helicobacter pylori will definitely lead to gastric cancer, but timely eradication of Helicobacter pylori can effectively reduce the risk of gastric cancer.
Relevant studies have also confirmed this point. A large-scale study in Shandong found that the incidence of gastric cancer decreased by 39% after eradication of Helicobacter pylori.
Pretreatment
First, make sure it’s a real infection
How do you know if you are infected?
The first is the blowing test.
In short, after taking reagents, blowing air into the instrument can detect whether Helicobacter pylori is infected.
This examination is cheap, convenient, accurate and painless. It is currently the most commonly used clinical examination method.
If secondary diseases such as ulcers are suspected, doctors will also recommend gastroscopy. During the examination, a very small piece of stomach tissue can be taken by the way to detect Helicobacter pylori.
As for the method of blood test for Helicobacter pylori antibody, it cannot accurately reflect the current infection situation. Because if you have been infected with Helicobacter pylori in the past, within a few years after eradication treatment, blood tests can still find positive antibodies.
Confirmed the infection,
Do you want to treat it? How?
If you feel uncomfortable in your stomach, you should consider testing whether there is Helicobacter pylori infection during the examination.
If Helicobacter pylori infection is found, no matter whether there are symptoms or not, regular eradication treatment is recommended, especially for people with digestive tract ulcer, Helicobacter pylori must be eradicated.
At present, the recommended scheme is [proton pump inhibitor + bismuth + two antibacterial drugs] quadruple therapy, which generally requires 14 days of treatment time.
If it is the first time to be infected with Helicobacter pylori, eradication is relatively simple, please be sure to be under the guidance of experienced doctors, sufficient treatment course, at one stroke [wipe out] the bacteria, weeds and roots.
If the first treatment is not eradicated, it will be relatively complicated when the treatment is continued, and the types of antibacterial drugs need to be specially selected according to drug resistance.
Remember here that those proprietary Chinese medicines or health products that are effective in eradicating Helicobacter pylori are most likely mixed with antibacterial drugs. This method of unknown dosage and type is very undesirable.
Go to a regular hospital, reasonable treatment, remember.
Finally, I’d like to help you sum up
1. In the face of Helicobacter pylori infection, don’t panic too much. Regular treatment can completely eradicate bacteria.
2. If you are infected with Helicobacter pylori, you need to pay attention to it. Because this bacterial infection is closely related to some gastrointestinal diseases and is easy to infect young children through intimate daily contact. Reasonable treatment is beneficial to you as well as to your relatives and friends.
3. Don’t worry too much about gastric cancer. Gastric cancer is caused by complicated multiple factors. Helicobacter pylori infection does not necessarily lead to gastric cancer.
Quitting smoking and drinking, eating less salt and more fruits and vegetables, eating three meals regularly, not abusing drugs, and regularly reviewing old stomach diseases … These good living habits are equally important, and only when they are done well can gastric cancer be truly prevented.
The scientific nature of this article has been examined by Wei Wei, chief physician of Clove Clinic.
–References–
[1] Sheila E Crowe, MD. Treatment regimen for Helicobacter pylori. Clinical consultant to UpToDate.
[2] Lee Y C, Chiang T H, Chou C K, et al. Association between Helicobacter pylori eradication and gastric cancer incidence: a systematic review and meta-analysis [J]. Gastroenterology, 2016, 150 (5): 1113-1124. E 5.
Source of cover photo: www.hizy.net Genuine Photo Library
Editor: Bruce