Can Vitamin C Prevent Ulcers?

How do you get infected with the bug that causes ulcers?

-- Stacy

Answer (Published 08/28/2003)

The bug in question is Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), Top 10 Q&A's:

the bacterium that can cause both peptic ulcers and Click Here to see the 10 most
stomach cancer. It also may cause no symptoms at recent Q&A’s to appear on
all. Your question is timely because researchers at the DrWeil.com.
San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center
recently completed a study showing that the lower the Q&A Library:
level of vitamin C in the blood, the more likely you are Looking for an old question?
to be infected with H. pylori. The findings were Curious about other topics?
published in the August 1, 2003 issue of the Journal Click here for Dr. Weil's
of the American College of Nutrition. complete library of questions
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The researchers analyzed blood
samples from nearly 7,000 adults
collected at random between 1988
and 1994. They found that those with
the lowest blood levels of vitamin C
had the highest incidence of H. pylori.
However, the study didn’t reveal
whether vitamin C could prevent
infection with H. pylori

if H. pylori is to blame for the low

levels of vitamin C seen among
infected individuals. Infection with H.
pylori often occurs during childhood
via food or water that has been
contaminated by human fecal waste.

Despite the uncertainty about the relationship between vitamin C and H. pylori, the
researchers recommended that everyone -- particularly those who test positive for H.
pylori -- increase consumption of foods high in vitamin C because it might help prevent
infection or reduce the effects of an infection and, perhaps, prevent peptic ulcer and
stomach cancer.

If you have an ulcer or chronic gastritis, simple tests requiring a blood, stool, or breath
sample can reveal the presence of the bacteria, and if the tests are positive, antibiotic
treatment can cure the infection and help treat the ulcer or gastritis.

Dr. Andrew Weil