Bad Breath, Bloating, Belching, Burning
H.Pylori speaks for itself! Approximately 90% to 100% of patients with duodenal ulcers, 70% of patients with gastric ulcers, and about 50% of people older than 50 years test positive for H. Pylori. Signs are often bad breath, bloating, belching and burning.
Helicobacter pylori (H. Pylori) is a type of bacteria that infects your stomach and can cause ulcers, inflammation, or even stomach cancer. It produces urease and carbonic anhydrase, which cooperatively function to achieve a detrimental neutral pH in the stomach.
The presence of H. pylori is determined by measuring the level of antibodies to H. pylori in the blood or saliva or by culturing material collected during an upper gastric scope (endoscopy) as well as measuring the breath for urea or doing a stool sample. Once you test positive in the blood for it, you will always test positive, regardless of treatment success. H. pylori are also found in saliva, plaque on teeth and poop. Infection can be spread through kissing and by transferring the bacteria from the hands of those who have not thoroughly washed them after a bowel movement. It may even spread through contaminated water and food.
Signs of a neutral pH in the stomach
Acidic environments are pH below 7 and basic environments are above 7. Stomach is typically around a 3 and buffers up around 4 as ingested food neutralizes it. We need stomach acid to begin the chemical breakdown of food, kill off invasive bacteria, trigger the release of digestive enzymes and allow for things like intrinsic factor to get released so you can absorb vitamin B12.
Signs of not enough stomach acid could mean an overgrowth of H. Pylori. It can show up in a number of ways:
Bloating, belching, burning, and flatulence immediately after meals
A sense of "fullness" after eating
Indigestion, diarrhea, or constipation
Multiple food allergies
Nausea after taking supplements
Itching around the rectum
Weak, peeling, and cracked fingernails
Dilated blood vessels in the cheeks and nose
Acne
Iron deficiency
Chronic intestinal parasites or abnormal flora
Undigested food in stool
Chronic Candida infections
Diseases associated with low gastric acidity
Addison's disease
Asthma
Celiac disease
Dermatitis herpetiformis
Diabetes mellitus
Eczema
Gallbladder disease
Graves' disease
Chronic autoimmune disorders
Hepatitis
Hyperthyroidisrd hypothyroidism
Hives (chronic)
Myasthenia gravis
Osteoporosis
Pernicious anemia
Psoriasis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rosacea
Sjdgren's syndrome
Systemic lupus erythematosus
Thyrotoxicosis
Vitiligo
Blood group 0 would be a moderate risk factor for infection by H. pylori, with more severe cases in men.
Treatment
Conventional treatment is triple antibiotic therapy with a proton pump inhibitor. Many strains of H. Pylori are now resistant to many forms of antibiotic therapy. Unfortunately, antimicrobial resistance has been associated with increased failure in the standard triple therapies to eradicate H. pylori infection. Nonetheless, conventional eradication treatment comes with some degree of adverse effects, such as nausea, metallic taste, vomiting, skin rash, and diarrhea and disruption of the remainder of the microbiome. How welcome then are the efforts towards the development of effective treatments with few to no side effects.
There are a number of plant based approaches that have scientific evidence of normalizing the levels of H.Pylori, healing the gut lining, and restoring healthy stomach acid. Questions? Ask drlaura@southendguelph.ca
