Australians Win Nobel For Linking Bug To Ulcers

New Scientist ^ | 10-3-2005 | Andy Coghan

[blam]

Australians win Nobel for linking bug to ulcers

13:56 03 October 2005
NewScientist.com news service
Andy Coghlan

Two Australians have won the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for establishing that bacteria cause stomach ulcers, it was announced on Monday.

Working at the Royal Perth Hospital, Barry Marshall and Robin Warren established beyond all doubt in the 1980s that Helicobacter pylori causes stomach ulcers by infecting and aggravating the gut lining.

Moreover, they showed that ulcers could be cured altogether by killing the bacteria with antibiotics. Hitherto, ulcers had been considered uncurable. Instead, patients' symptoms were treated with a lifetime of drugs to reduce the acidity of the gut.

The pair’s claims provoked a fierce backlash from the medical establishment, which held to the dogma that ulcers were brought on by stress and lifestyle, and could not be cured. By revealing a simple cure, the researchers also threatened to destroy huge and lucrative global markets for the existing anti-ulcer drugs, which simply eased symptoms.

Abuse and ridicule

At conferences, the two scientists were subjected to abuse and ridicule. “There was such a prejudice against the idea that bacteria could grow in the acidity of the stomach,” says David Kelly, a senior microbiologist at the University of Sheffield, UK.

The controversy is euphemistically alluded to in the Nobel citation, which credits the pair with “tenacity and a prepared mind [to challenge] prevailing dogmas”.

Warren, a pathologist from Perth, first noticed in 1982 that strange, curved bacteria frequently colonised the lower part of the stomach in biopsies from patients with ulcers, and that the bugs always lived close to sites of inflammation.

Marshall, a young clinical fellow, became interested in Warren’s findings and together they initiated a crucial study of biopsies from 100 patients. From these, Marshall eventually learned how to grow the bacteria in the lab, and named the species Helicobacter pylori.

They established that the organism was almost always present in patients with gastric inflammation, duodenal ulcers or gastric ulcers.

Next, the pair proved that patients could be cured, but only by eradicating the bacteria with antibiotics. Notably, Marshall proved in 1985 that the bacteria caused gastric inflammation by infecting himself, then curing his condition with antibiotics.

Heroic experiment

“This extraordinary act demonstrated outstanding dedication and commitment to his research,” says Bob May, president of the UK Royal Society.

Kelly believes that Marshall performed his “heroic experiment” out of sheer frustration at the failure of other doctors to accept his results.

Since their discovery, it has been accepted beyond all dispute that H. pylori causes more than 90% of duodenal ulcers and 80% of gastric ulcers.

Half of all humans carry the bugs in their stomachs for life, but on average only 10 to 15% of those infected develop gastric inflammation or ulcers. In some individuals, infections can lead to stomach cancer.

Although the idea that bacteria cause chronic inflammatory disease was seen as heresy back in the 1980s, there is now increasing evidence that bacteria might be to blame for other conditions, such as Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis and even the clogging of arteries that leads to coronary heart disease.

Marshall, who has set up his own Helicobacter pylori Research Laboratory in Perth, affiliated with the University of Western Australia, posted a notice on his website saying: “Thank you to everyone. At the moment I am overwhelmed with phone calls and congratulations pouring in from all over the world.”

[bellas_sister]

My husband has the same sort of story. We had just met in the early 90's and had so many problems with his stomach. We saw a show about this very thing and he mentioned it to his Dr. now he has never had a stomach ache since.

[neverdem]

Thanks for the ping. FWIW here's the NY Times version of the story yesterday. Australians Receive Nobel for Bacterium Work

Here's yesterday's URL, after Googling the title:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/03/science/04cnd-nobel.html?hp&ex=1128398400&en=2631f547ccc36dea&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Here's today's elaboration of the same story by the same author, who happens to use the M.D. suffix as he pleases. Two Win Nobel Prize for Discovering Bacterium Tied to Stomach Ailments

Today's URL:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/04/science/04nobe.html?pagewanted=1

What I find odd is that when you enter the author's name into the NY Times' own search engine, you don't find yesterday's story. Here's their search URL:

http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?query=LAWRENCE%20K%2e%20ALTMAN&date_select=full&srchst=nyt

Go figure.

[rudyudy]

I have heard of that before. I think you are correct. I think kefir might do the same thing but don't know for sure.

[SunkenCiv]

Hey, at least it's still the newspaper of broken record.

;')

[MamaLucci]

By revealing a simple cure, the researchers also threatened to destroy huge and lucrative global markets for the existing anti-ulcer drugs, which simply eased symptoms.

Makes me wonder what else (arthritis and other autoimmune diseases
come to mind) the medical establishment would rather treat, than cure......
Kudos to these Aussie researchers.

[blam]

"Makes me wonder what else (arthritis and other autoimmune diseases come to mind) the medical establishment would rather treat, than cure......"

Yes, I agree. There is a test, PCR or PRC (can't remember which) that I've read is a better indicator of 'heart problems' than cholestorel levels. PRC/PCR is a measure of whole-body inflamation.

In the article I read, one doctor suggested that once people get to a certain age, they should all be placed on a low level of daily antibotics.

I told my doctor that and he laughed.

[MamaLucci]

I told my doctor that and he laughed.

Don't you just love to pay someone to do that? ;)

[MamaLucci]

ping!

[blam]

"Don't you just love to pay someone to do that? ;)"

LOL. They especially don't like me to ask them questions about something new that I had just read in one of my science magazines. But, I do anyway.

[Ghengis]

A backwoods West Virginia Doctor cured my Grandfather of ulcers with a several weeks regimen of sauerkraut juice and goat's milk. The Doc claimed that it balanced the bacteria in the gut which caused ulcers.

That was sometime between 1910 and 1915.

[ctdonath2]

Notably, Marshall proved in 1985 that the bacteria caused gastric inflammation by infecting himself, then curing his condition with antibiotics.

I believe we have here the opportunity for a remarkable first:
for a scientist to win both a Nobel Prize and IgNobel Prize the same year for the same work! a Nobel Prize for proving ulcers are caused by bacteria, and an IgNobel Prize for doing so by deliberately giving himself a wicked-bad stomach ache and then curing it!