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Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a spiral-shaped bacterium (germ) that causes
chronic inflammation (gastritis) and peptic ulcer disease (sores on the lining
of the stomach or small intestine) in humans. It lives on the gastric epithelium
under the mucus layer of stomach and duodenum (section of intestine just below
stomach. The bacterium is thought to damage this mucus layer which is the
stomach and duodenum's natural protection from gastric acids. Local inflammation
caused by the bacterial infection and exposure to these acids can damage the
lining of the stomach and duodenum, eventually leading to ulceration and
possibly gastric cancer.
The bacterium
was first discovered in 1982 by two Australian scientists Robin Warren and Barry
Marshall. This bacteria is the most common cause of ulcers worldwide.
Approximately half of the world's population is infected with H. pylori, which
produces free radicals. The World Health Organisation has declared h'pylori as a
carcinogen causing infected people to contract gastritis, stomach ulcers, colon
and gastric cancer.
Right now, there is no
vaccine against H. pylori. Although research suggests that infection is passed
from person to person, exactly how this happens is not really known. Because
transmission is not clearly understood, prevention guidelines are not yet
available. With prolonged antibiotic therapy, H. pylori gastritis and peptic
ulcer disease (especially ulcers in the duodenum, a portion of the small
intestine) can often be cured.
Biaxin is one of the
strongest antibiotic used to treat h.pylori infection, but it has been found to
become antibiotic resistant. Besides killing bacteria, antibiotics also kill
normal healthy cells.
H. pylori infection can be
diagnosed with a blood test. Your doctor might also want you to get an x-ray or
have endoscopy (an endoscope is a thin tube that carries a tiny camera) to see
if you have an ulcer. A urea breath test is another way to find out if you have
H. pylori infection.
Once a person is infected,
the organism can live in the stomach indefinitely and may not cause clinical
illness until many years later. There is a general consensus among doctors that
patients should be treated if they are infected with H.pylori and have ulcers.
The goal of treatment is to eradicate the bacteria, heal the ulcers, and prevent
the ulcers' return.
OPTIVIN™ 's
ability to inhibit the growth of H. pylori has been evaluated and backed by the
first published study of various berry extracts against this bacteria.
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