Helicobacter Pylori
Most stomach ulcers, also known as peptic ulcers, are caused not by stress as many have assumed for years, but by a bacteria called Helicobacter Pylori. H. Pylori has been found in 95 percent of people with gastric ulcers and in 100 percent of people with chronic gastritis. The people most at risk for an infection and subsequent ulceration are the elderly or people living in third world countries who were probably first infected as children. The organism itself does not cause ulcers to form but it secretes ammonia which neutralizes the acid inside the stomach, thereby allowing the bacteria to colonize that region and grow to a point where damage to the tissue occurs. Not everyone who is infected by H. Pylori actually develops ulcers.
Destroyed by Antibiotics
H. Pylori is shaped like a corkscrew and has moving appendages. This bacteria is able to survive the caustic environment of the stomach by hiding in the mucus lining of the organ where it reproduces itself many times over. It can only be eliminated from the patient through the use of antibiotics which attack the bacteria and destroy it. But the antibiotics must be taken at a doctor's orders because if the organism is not entirely eliminated it will reproduce into a colony again and the ulcer will return. Using the antibiotic treatment to its fullest extent will cure the ulcer permanently by eliminating the bacteria.
Disrupts the Immune System
This bacteria has the ability to swim on its own, which is why it can penetrate the mucus layer of the inside of the stomach. It creates proteins that stop stomach acids from forming, and creates its own ideal environment. H. Pylori is microaerophilic, which means that it requires very little oxygen to survive and it can attach itself to the epithelial cells lining of the stomach with small appendages that anchor it in place. It can also disrupt the attacks by the immune system through the use of enzymes that it releases which prevent the immune system from attacking it properly. Infections of H. Pylori are common throughout the United States and involve about 20 percent of people under the age of 40 and 50 percent of people over the age of 60.
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