Self-medication and the abuse of medications such as metronidazole and clarithromycin could affect the efficiency of the treatment against Helicobacter pylori, responsible for gastritis, agreed the Nobel Prize in Medicine, Barry Marshall, and the clinical educator, David A. Perua. “Treatment may be more difficult due to antibiotic resistance. If they have been previously treated with clarithromycin or metronidazole, these patients may need a special regimen,” Perua said. While visiting the “Salvador Zubirán” National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition, the doctor recalled that H. Pylori, in addition to gastritis, can cause indigestion, ulcers and in some cases cancer.
Meanwhile, Marshall, Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2005, explained that contact with saliva and contaminated water are the main risk factors.
“To protect the population (must) number one, make the drinking water supply cleaner,” he said.
Marshall said the bacteria could dissipate with better water supplies, smaller families and better diets.
The specialists recalled that in the world there are 4,000 million people infected with H. Pylori, of which one percent develop gastric cancer. “It is an important research area for Mexico, because perhaps the situation in Mexico is not the same as in other countries, such as China, which have other cultural aspects in families,” Marshall said.
Within the framework of the 70th Anniversary of the “Salvador Zubirán” National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition, the head of the Department of Gastrointerology, Luis Federico Uscanga, mentioned that H. Pylori is very common in Mexico.
“Depending on the socioeconomic status, which surely has to do with the hygiene conditions of families, you can find antibody levels in up to 80% of people,” he said.
Helicobacter pylori is a type of bacteria that is found in the stomach and remains in the gastric mucosa for years and is considered the most common chronic bacterial disease in the world because more than half of the population suffers from it.
The infection occurs most often during childhood and is a cause of gastritis and stomach ulcers that can progress to stomach cancer.
Most people with H. pylori have no signs or symptoms, although burning pain in the abdomen, abdominal pain when no food was eaten, nausea, loss of appetite, frequent belching, or weight loss are likely. .
To diagnose H. pylori infection, different tests must be performed, some of which are invasive in order to take a small sample of the gastric mucosa for analysis.
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