This year, May 15 is the International Day of Families and the eighth National No Pylori Day.
The Fifth National Consensus Report on the Management of Helicobacter pylori Infection shows that the current rate of H. pylori infection in China is still about 50%. The Expert Consensus on Prevention, Control and Management of H. pylori Infection in Chinese Families (2021) specifies that “family-based prevention and control of H. pylori infection” is an important strategy for interrupting H. pylori infection and transmission.
Professor Zhang Guoxin, director of the Department of Gastroenterology at Jiangsu Provincial People’s Hospital, told Science and Technology Daily that H. pylori is the only bacterium found to survive in an environment of high gastric acid concentration in the stomach.
In December 2021, the American Institute of Toxicology, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, published the 15th edition of its Carcinogen Report, in which H. pylori was listed as a definite carcinogen.
”Clinical studies have found that most duodenal ulcers and gastric ulcers are associated with H. pylori infection, and that H. pylori infection increases the incidence of peptic ulcers.” Zhang Guoxin introduced, “H. pylori infection mainly affects the internal environment of the stomach and the structure of the stomach wall, leading to chronic gastritis, gastric ulcer and other diseases and stomach pain, bloating, nausea, acid reflux, indigestion and other uncomfortable symptoms in patients, which have an impact on their health and life.”
Therefore, infected individuals who experience stomach pain, bloating, frequent burping and loss of appetite should seek prompt medical attention and receive regular treatment.
Active H. pylori screening and treatment is an important measure and way to effectively reduce the risk of gastric cancer. Although H. pylori infection may lead to gastric cancer, current research suggests that the process from H. pylori infection to gastritis, gastric ulcer and then gastric cancer is a chronic development process that takes about 10 years on average, but eradicating H. pylori infection can effectively reduce the risk of gastric cancer.
Zhang Guoxin suggests that there are two types of treatment for H. pylori infection: for patients who are asymptomatic, or whose normal life is not affected, there is no need for overtreatment, and they need to follow medical advice for regular review; for patients who have developed symptoms, especially those who have been examined for peptic ulcers, or have a family history of gastrointestinal tumors, they need to receive standardized treatment, and it is not advisable to use medication without authorization, nor is it recommended to interrupt treatment midway privately to prevent increased H. pylori infection. The company’s main goal is to increase the drug resistance of H. pylori and make treatment more difficult.
Experts say that H. pylori is transmitted through the mouth, so usually pay attention to dietary hygiene, eat less cold food, if eaten to do a good job of cleaning and disinfection; pay attention to the cleaning and disinfection of daily utensils; avoid eating at roadside stalls that do not pass the health qualifications; immunocompromised people to avoid meals, or choose to share meals or use public chopsticks; parents avoid chewing food before feeding it to their children; pay attention to emotional regulation, avoid excessive Avoid stress, anxiety, anger and other emotional stimuli.
