| Bill Poston 2006-03-22, 1:31 pm |
| Some people confuse the pain caused by H. pylori infection with
heartburn. Simple tests can detect H. pylori.
"THE LAST LAUGH IS SPELLED N-O-B-E-L
Back in 1979, Australian pathologist J. Robin Warren noticed a
hitherto unknown species of small, curved bacterium, associated with
inflammation, when he performed stomach biopsies. He began to
investigate. Soon Barry J. Marshall, a clinician, joined in the
studies, and he succeeded in culturing the germ.
Five years later, Drs. Marshall and Warren told the world about the
odd bacteria they had found in the stomachs of nearly everyone who had
gastritis or peptic ulcers (ulcers of the stomach or duodenum),
stating that the bacteria "may be an important factor in the etiology
[cause] of these diseases." But no one believed them. Everyone "knew"
that stress and a bad lifestyle caused ulcers. Everyone "knew" that
ulcers were a long-term illness that in extreme cases could be managed
only with surgery. Marshall and Warren were widely ridiculed for their
heretical theory.
Fast-forward to October 3, 2005. Scene: the renowned Karolinska
Institute in Sweden. The Nobel Assembly meets and decides to award the
2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Marshall and Warren "for
their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in
gastritis and peptic ulcer disease."
It is now well known that H. pylori causes up to 80% of gastric
ulcers and over 90% of duodenal ulcers and it increases the risk for
some kinds of gastric cancer. Fortunately, the infection can usually
be eradicated with a relatively short course of antibiotics and acid
blocking drugs, and it may also yield to mastic gum (swallowed in
capsule form), which kills H. pylori. Thus, peptic ulcer disease is no
longer the chronic and often disabling condition it once was, before
its true cause was discovered.
It often takes many years, even decades, for revolutionary medical
concepts to be come generally accepted. Who can guess what unorthodox
ideas on the fringes of today's medicine will become tomorrow's
conventional wisdom and main line treatments?"
Bill Poston
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