Helicobacter pylori

The symptoms of this condition are burning pain or discomfort (usually in the upper abdomen);
bloating; feeling full after eating a small amount of food; lack of appetite; nausea or vomiting. Helicobacter
pylori, also known as H. pylori, is a bacterium that is commonly found in the stomach and duodenum. It is
present in approximately one-half of the world's population. The vast majority of people infected with H.
pylori infection have no symptoms and will never develop problems. However, H. pylori is capable of
causing a number of gastrointestinal disorders, including ulcers, and, much less commonly, stomach
cancer. It is not clear why some people with H. pylori get these conditions and others do not. In the United
States and other developed countries, infection is unusual during childhood but becomes more common
during adulthood. However, in developing countries, most children are infected with H. pylori before age
10.

The stomach is protected from its own gastric juice by a thick layer of mucus that covers the
stomach lining. Helicobacter pylori takes advantage of this protection by living in the mucus lining. Once
H. pylori is safely settled in the mucus, it is able to fight the stomach acid that does reach it with an
enzyme it possesses called urease. Urease converts urea, of which there is an abundant supply in the
stomach (from saliva and gastric juices), into bicarbonate and ammonia, which are strong bases. This
creates a cloud of acid neutralizing chemicals around the H. pylori, protecting it from the acid in the
stomach.

Another defense H. pylori has is that the body's natural defenses cannot reach the bacterium in
the mucus lining of the stomach. The immune system will respond to an H. pylori infection by sending
white cells, killer T cells, and other infection fighting agents. However, these potential H. pylori eradicators
cannot reach the infection, because they cannot easily get through stomach lining. They do not go away
either, though, and the immune response grows and grows. Polymorphs die, and spill their destructive
compounds (superoxide radicals) on stomach lining cells. Extra nutrients are sent to reinforce the white
cells, and the H. pylori can feed on this. within a few days, gastritis and perhaps eventually a peptic ulcer
results. It may not be H. pylori itself which causes peptic ulcer, but the inflammation of the stomach lining;
i.e. the response to H. pylori.

This medical problem impacted my personal life because I was diagnosed with H pylori when I
was eighteen years old. I believe I contracted H pylori thought the ingestion of tainted food or water.
Although I will never know how I contracted it, I can’t forget the pain and the discomfort that it caused
me. I felt sick for two years. Fortunately there is a treatment for the infection. In my case I suffered a
treatment failure twice with kept me sick for a long period of time. I had to take different types of
antibiotics like omeprazole along with spending many nights in the hospital. I have been cured from
Helicobacter pylori but I had to change my eating and drinking habits. I still remember the pain in my
stomach so I still have a hard time eating outside of my house.

The treatment of H pylori was successful in my case. It prevented me from developing an ulcer or other
complications, such as stomach bleeding.