H. Pylori: Symptoms, Causes, and Effective Treatments

What is H. pylori?

H. pylori is basically a bacteria that is estimated to be present in the stomach of 50 percent of people, in Pakistan it may be even more. 

symptoms:

Initially, it does not have any special symptoms, but if it stays in our stomach for a long time, it effects our stomach in three stages. Initially, it causes inflammation of the stomach, which we called gastritis. Due to the gastritis, there may be symptoms such as loss of appetite, heartburn, belching, or vomiting. 

After that, the next symptom can be ulcer in stomach . In ulcers, the lining of our stomach gets disturbed. When this lining is disturbed, there is often a complaint of stomach pain after eating. Sometimes it also affects our duodenal, which is the beginning of our small intestine. It also has pain in it two to three hours after eating.

In the third symptom, H. pylori  caused by  abdomen cancer. Various studies have shown that people who are infected with H. pylori have a higher risk of developing stomach cancer than the general population. It is very important to be aware of this and have the right knowledge.

mistakes in diagnosing disease:

But unfortunately, in our country, there are many mistakes made in the treatment of H. pylori and in diagnosis as well . The most common mistake we make in diagnosing is the diagnosing H. pylori in the blood. If you have had a problem with H. pylori even once in your life, your blood will always test positive for H. pylori, even after the treatment.That is why the sensitivity of this test is not very high, so we should not rely on this test to diagnose H. pylori. 

In addition, one mistake many people make is getting an ultrasound done for gastric problems. Although our stomach is in such a place that it is not visible properly on ultrasound, that is why you do not need to get an ultrasound for diagnosis

how to diagnose??

To diagnose H. pylori, a stool antigen test should be perform. The sensitivity and specificity of both these tests are very high.

In some people, we also have to do an endoscopy. After performing an endoscopy, a small sample is taken from the lining of the stomach, which allows us to diagnose whether a person has an H. pylori problem or not.

Most people get scared when they hear the name of endoscopy, even though it is not a very difficult procedure. If a good doctor performs this test on you, the chances of complications are very low. 

Before getting the test done, some precautions have to be taken, such as if you are using any antibiotics for any disease you have to stop taking it four weeks before the test. Similarly, if you are taking any capsules or drinking any syrup to reduce stomach acidity, then you also have to stop taking it at least two weeks before the test.

If you do not do this, there is a chance that your test will be false negative,  that even if you have a problem with H. pylori, your test will be negative

reasons of failure:

The biggest reason for the failure of H. pylori treatment is drug resistance, because most people's bodies have developed resistance to the drugs that were previously used to treat h. pylori because the use of antibiotics is very common in our country، If someone has a sore throat or stomach problem, antibiotics are used immediately. 

H. pylori after two courses of treatment, drug sensitivity testing is done to see which medication will be most effective against this bacteria. Once you have completed your treatment, you will need to retest for H. pylori four weeks after the treatment. 

Another reason for treatment failure is under dosing.Because the doses of the medicines used for the treatment of H. pylori are normally slightly lower, but in H. pylori, this dose is slightly increased. However, if this medicine is given in the normal dose, it becomes ineffective, so proper use is very important.

Earlier, it was believed that if this medicine is taken for five to seven days, the H. pylori is eradicated, but now the latest research is showing that the medicine should be used for at least 14 days.

Now the problem is that there are quite a few side effects to the effect of the pills. Some people have diarrhea, that is, they get motion sickness. Some people get a metallic taste in their mouth from the medicines , which is why they do not complete their course of treatment. Or in some people, the symptoms improve within five to seven days of use, but then they stop using the medicine. If you don't complete the medication , the H. pylori bacteria will remain in your stomach and will become active again, and the medications you have taken before will no longer be effective.

The fourth reason for failure in the treatment of h. pylori is the wrong treatment protocol. There is a specific course of three to four drugs for the treatment of H. pylori . If that course is not taken, the disease of H. pylori cannot be eradicated and for this you need a proper specialist.