Do you often feel stomach pain, indigestion, acid reflux, and heartburn? Have you been at a loss after seeing a positive diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori on your medical examination report? Have you even heard that Helicobacter pylori infection can easily lead to stomach cancer and prevent it from happening at night? Today, let's learn about the frustrating bacterium - Helicobacter pylori.
Helicobacter pylori, abbreviated as HP, is a spiral Gram negative bacterium that mainly parasitizes the gastric mucosa. Helicobacter pylori infection is one of the most common bacterial infections in humans. This bacterium has extremely strong survival ability and can survive in strongly acidic environments. It is currently the only bacteria found that can survive in the stomach. Helicobacter pylori infection is closely related to chronic gastritis, gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, gastric mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma, gastric cancer and other diseases, and was listed as a Class I carcinogen for human gastric cancer by the International Center for Research on Cancer, a subsidiary of the World Health Organization, in 1994.
Human beings are the only source of infection for Helicobacter pylori, and the transmission route of HP is through the digestive tract. Helicobacter pylori is mainly transmitted through oral transmission, such as sharing utensils and water bottles. Eating together, kissing, using unclean utensils, mother to child transmission, saliva transmission, etc. can all potentially transmit Helicobacter pylori. Especially when feeding children mouth to mouth, it is extremely easy to transmit Helicobacter pylori to them. Appetite transmission: reflux from the stomach to the mouth; Fecal oral transmission: Helicobacter pylori can be excreted through feces. If the water source is contaminated, healthy people who drink water containing Helicobacter pylori can be infected; Medical transmission, caused by improper handling of medical devices, resulting in infection in humans. Helicobacter pylori infection has a clear phenomenon of family "clustering", where there is a high possibility that other family members are also positive when one person is positive.
At present, the methods for detecting Helicobacter pylori are divided into invasive and non-invasive examinations. For example, 14C or 13C breath tests are non-invasive examinations that are non-invasive, painless, and accurate. The difference between the two is that 13C is a non radioactive isotope of carbon, which is very stable and harmless to the human body. 14C is a radioactive isotope of carbon, but its radiation is extremely low. Gastroscopy is an invasive examination, and can also observe the presence of gastritis, gastric ulcers, gastric cancer, and other conditions. When considering illness, biopsy or treatment can be performed.
When diagnosed with Helicobacter pylori, especially for patients with peptic ulcers and gastric mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma, it is strongly recommended to undergo Helicobacter pylori eradication treatment. The quadruple therapy is recommended, and four drugs are taken orally at the same time. The regimen consists of proton pump inhibitors, antibiotics, antibiotics, and bismuth agents. The oral treatment course is 10-14 days, and the cure rate can reach about 90%. For specific medication, it is necessary to consult a professional physician and choose medication according to the individual situation of the patient. During the treatment stage, if discomfort symptoms occur, such as blisters, rash, fever, or serious damage to liver function detected after taking medication, the medication should be stopped immediately and the physician should be consulted. Due to the patient's need to take medication for a long period of time and the inability to improve their condition, they stopped taking the medication without authorization because the course of treatment was not sufficient and the drug concentration could not be reached. Eradicating Helicobacter pylori not only would not be successful, but it could also lead to the emergence of drug-resistant strains. In order to test the efficacy of eradication, it is generally recommended to go to the hospital for a follow-up examination after regular treatment for one month to evaluate the treatment effect.
In daily life, eat less in unsanitary places and try to use disinfected tableware whenever possible. Use public chopsticks during meals, do not chew food and feed it to children. High temperatures can kill Helicobacter pylori. Boil in boiling water for 10 to 15 minutes. Personal household items must be used separately, and do not share toothbrushes, bowls, chopsticks, etc. Eat less spicy and stimulating food, less salt, have a light diet, and eat more fresh vegetables and fruits. Patients who have been cured should also pay attention to preventing reinfection, mainly through daily intimate contact. Therefore, treating together with family members is the key to avoiding mutual infection and reinfection.