H. pylori is a bacterium that can survive in the stomach and cause an infection with symptoms such as swelling in the belly and indigestion, being the main cause of diseases such as gastritis and ulcers.
Many people have this bacterium in their stomach without even knowing it, because in many cases it does not cause symptoms or complications, and its presence is also common in children.
If you think you may have H. pylori, indicate the symptoms you are experiencing, to know your risk:
- 1. Pain, burning or feeling of constant poor digestion in the stomach Yes No
- 2. Excessive belching or intestinal gas Yes No
- 3. Feeling of swollen belly Yes No
- 4. Loss of appetite Yes No
- 5. Nausea and vomiting Yes No
- 6. Very dark or bloody stools Yes No
These symptoms usually arise when H. pylori caused gastritis or ulcers in the stomach or intestine, which occurs mainly when the patient eats a diet rich in sugars and fats, and low in fruits and vegetables, making the stomach more sensitive and making it difficult to digestion.
How to confirm the diagnosis
In cases of simple symptoms, such as nausea and indigestion, the doctor may order blood tests, stool tests or a breath test with marked urea, which can detect the presence of H. pylori without causing pain or requiring special patient preparation.
However, if there are severe symptoms such as vomiting or blood in the stool, tests such as endoscopy with biopsy are recommended, which also assesses the presence of ulcers, inflammation or cancer in the stomach, or the urease test, which minutes later is able to diagnose the presence or absence of H. pylori. See how this test is done.
In addition, these tests can be repeated at the end of treatment to see if the bacteria has been eliminated from the stomach.
What are the consequences of infection
H. pylori infection causes constant inflammation of the stomach lining, which, over time, eventually results in small gastric ulcers, which are sores in the stomach that can cause severe pain and bleeding.
In addition, if not treated properly, H. pylori can result in chronic inflammation of the stomach that increases the risk of developing gastric cancer by up to 8 times. Thus, although H. pylori infection is not a cancer diagnosis, it may indicate that a person is at greater risk of having stomach cancer if he does not receive proper treatment. Understand more about how the treatment is done.
How to get the bacteria
Infection with H. pylori is relatively common, as the bacterium is transmitted mainly through saliva or oral contact with water and food that had contact with contaminated feces. Thus, some factors that increase the chances of getting an H. pylori infection include:
- Drinking contaminated or unfiltered water; Living with a person infected with H. pylori; Living in a home with many other people.
So, to prevent this infection, it is very important to take care with hygiene, such as washing your hands before eating and after going to the bathroom, in addition to avoid sharing cutlery and glasses with other people.
In addition, having unhealthy lifestyle habits such as smoking, drinking alcoholic beverages excessively or having an unbalanced diet also increase the risk of catching this type of bacteria.
