Helicobacter Pylori - Things You Want to Know

Helicobacter Pylori are considered a specific bacterium, which causes stomach infection. This infection may add to the disease development, like bloating, heartburn, stomach inflammation or gastritis, ulcers in stomach, nausea and duodenum.

Helicobacter pylori germ lives in inner lining of stomach. It can produce a wide number of chemicals which damage the stomach lining. This infection persists for several years. It has been reported that more than 40 percent of people over 60 years have H pylori. There are also people who are infected in the childhood.

Helicobacter pylori is spiral shaped, and in a way its shape allow to get into the protective mucous lining of the stomach, wherein they are known to produce certain substances which weaken the stomach lining and even make stomach much more vulnerable to the damage and risk from the gastric acids.

The helicobacter pylori bacterium can even attach to stomach cells which cause the gastritis or stomach inflammation and may motivate the production of the excess stomach acid. Eventually, infection with bacteria may also increase risk of the stomach cancer.

Causes:

Though it is still unknown as to how the helicobacter pylori bacterium is spread, most scientists suppose that it can also be contracted through water and food. As per the National Institute of Health, half of the adults over the age of 60 years old and 20 percent of the people under the age of 40 years are infected.

Having Helicobacter Pylori disease doesn’t necessarily mean that you will have ulcers or develop the stomach cancer. In fact, many people infected with bacteria will never have problems or symptoms such as ulcers. Only some people with bacteria develop the stomach cancer. It is not to clear as to why some of the infected people develop ulcers and the others don’t.

Helicobacter Pylori cause certain symptoms. They are generally either the symptoms of the peptic ulcer or gastritis disease. The most common warning sign of the peptic ulcer infection is burning or gnawing abdominal pain, generally around the area just under ribs. The pain usually gets worse when the stomach is empty and it improves when you drink milk, take antacid and when you eat some food.

The symptoms of Helicobacter Pylori can include vomiting which may be bloody or may look like the coffee grounds, tarry or black stools, nausea, burping, bloating, loss of appetite and weight loss.

Diagnosis

There are many types of tests which are available to diagnose the H. Pylori infection or ulcers. These include stool test, blood test, urea breath test and endoscopy.