Thanks to science helicobacter that increases the risk of peptic ulcer disease and even stomach cancer can nowadays be easily tested and treated. Helicobacter researchers were awarded a Nobel in 2005.
Helico Professor Pentti Sipponen has extensive experience in the field of pathology. His co-operation with professor Max Siurala started in the early 1970’s. Siurala’s research group studied gastritis, a chronic inflammation of the stomach mucosa.
At the time, not much was known about helicobacter. But Siurala’s group already knew that gastritis was closely linked to stomach cancer and peptic ulcer disease (PUD). Surgeries were a typical treatment of these diseases then.
All of this changed once helicobacter was found. Professor Sipponen remembers a colleague making the following comment about it:
“Pentti, wouldn’t you agree that we knew everything about gastritis already in 1982, except for the cause and treatment?”
Groundbreaking
research
The bacterium Helicobacter pylori was discovered by two Australian doctors, Barry J. Marshall and J. Robin Warren, in 1982. The following year they proved that gastrodunenal ulcer is caused by helicobacter infection which can be treated with antibiotics. This discovery was to change gastrointestinal medicine. In 2005, Marshall and Warren received the Nobel prize in Medicine, and rightly so.
Gastroscopy and analysis of the biopsies were the only diagnostic methods available.
“The discovery of helicobacter significantly changed the treatment and diagnosing of stomach diseases,” professor Sipponen says.
According to him, it took until the late 1990’s for doctors to accept that helicobacter infection really was the underlying cause for many stomach problems.
“Gastric surgeries were no longer necessary for ulcers, as eliminating helicobacter was enough. Due to this, patients had to undergo a lot less suffering, and treatment required less public funds and resources.”
Diagnosis is quick
and easy today
Based on the Finnish gastritis research, the Finnish biotechnology company Biohit has developed a biomarker measurement method which helps diagnose helicobacter infection and atrophic gastritis quickly and easily at the doctor’s office.
“GastroPanel blood test provides information on helicobacter infection and the related changes in the intestine. It is also a reliable means of testing whether the stomach mucosa is healthy, which in practice eliminates the risk of stomach diseases”, professor Sipponen explains.
Diagnosing stomach diseases used to be much more complicated. Gastroscopy and analysis of the biopsies were the only diagnostic methods available. Doctors sometimes used x-rays, too. Stress was often identified as the cause for the stomach pain, and peptic ulcer disease (PUD) were dubbed the “managers’ disease”.
“Thanks to helicobacter research, we have learned that PUD is caused by an infection, and more likely to inflict people in lower income brackets rather than managers.”
”About half of the world’s population carries Helicobacter pylori in their stomach mucosa.”
“It is very difficult for doctors to come up with a reliable diagnosis based on stomach pain alone. Proper examination requires either a gastroscopy or a blood test of biomarkers,” says Sipponen.
Wipe-out
worth trying
Even today, doctors’ opinions on the treatment of asymptomatic helicobacter infection vary. Professor Sipponen emphasises that the infection will lead to gastritis and often also atrophic gastritis. This is why he is in favour of thorough examinations. According to him, an attempt should be made to wipe out the helicobacter from the stomach.
“Atrophic gastritis increases the risk of stomach cancer. Low stomach acid level can interfere with the absorption of vitamin B12, iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc and some medicines. Inadequate absorption in turn may insidiously lead to many degenerative diseases,” Sipponen warns.
Text Else Turunen | Photo iStockphoto