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For years an obscure doctor hailing from Australia’s hardscrabble west coast watched in horror as ulcer patients fell so ill that many had their stomach removed or bled until they died. That physician, an internist named Barry Marshall, was tormented because he knew there was a simple treatment for ulcers, which at that time afflicted 10 percent of all adults. In 1981 Marshall began working with Robin Warren, the Royal Perth Hospital pathologist who, two years earlier, discovered the gut could be overrun by hardy, corkscrew-shaped bacteria called Helicobacter pylori. Biopsying ulcer patients and culturing the organisms in the lab,...

Otzi the legendary “Iceman” wasn't alone when he was mummified on a glacier 5,300 years ago. With him were gut microbes known to cause some serious tummy trouble. These bacteria, Helicobacter pylori, are providing fresh evidence about Otzi's diet and poor health in the days leading up to his murder. Intriguingly, they could also help scientists better understand who his people were and how they came to live in the region. ... Discovered in the 1990s, Otzi lived in what are today the Eastern Italian Alps, where he was naturally mummified by ice after his violent death. The body is...

Broccoli and broccoli sprouts contain a chemical called sulforaphane that kills helicobacter pylori, the bacteria responsible for peptic ulcers and most gastric cancers, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In the U.S., approximately 50% of people over age 50 test positive for H. pylori, which does not always cause ulcers, but is now known to dramatically increase an individual's risk for often fatal stomach cancers, and to be a causative factor in a wide range of other stomach disorders including gastritis, esophagitis, and acid indigestion. In the lab, scientists at Johns Hopkins found that sulforaphane...

The bacteria responsible for stomach ulcers have been linked to Parkinson's disease, according to researchers in the US. Mice infected with Helicobacter pylori went onto develop Parkinson's like symptoms. The study, presented at a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, argues that infection could play "a significant role". The charity Parkinson's UK said the results should be treated with caution. Parkinson's disease affects the brain and results in slow movements and a tremor. Middle-aged mice, the equivalent of being between 55 and 65 in humans, were infected. Six months later they showed symptoms related to Parkinson's, such as reduced...

Experimental animal studies have shown that H. pylori shares several antigenic regions in common with acid secreting cells in gastric mucosa. Antibodies triggered by H. pylori destroy acid secreting cells due this antigenic mimicry. H. pylori infection is very common in humans, and about half of the infected patients develop atrophic changes over the years. In end stage severe atrophy, H. pylori disappears and signs of a previous infection are difficult to detect. This research, lead by Dr. L Veijola and her colleagues in the University of Helsinki, Finland, has recently been published on January 7 , 2010 in World...

CHAMPAIGN, lll. — Researchers report that Helicobacter pylori, the only bacterium known to survive in the harsh environment of the human stomach, directly activates an enzyme in host cells that has been associated with several types of cancer, including gastric cancer. Chronic infection with H. pylori is a well-documented risk factor for several forms of gastric cancer, but researchers have not yet determined the mechanisms by which specific bacterial factors contribute to cancer development. Nearly one-half of the world’s population is infected with H. pylori, and gastric cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death. The new study,...

The elimination of Helicobacter pylori from the stomach decreases the risk of people with gastric or duodenal ulcers developing stomach cancer, according to the findings of a research group led by a Hiroshima City Hospital doctor. The findings were revealed in this month's issue of Gastroenterology, the journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. Helicobacter pylori is a bacteria believed to cause gastric or duodenal ulcers. It is treated with antibiotics and other medicines. The research group, led by Motoo Mizuno, head of the hospital's endoscopy department, studied 1,120 patients with gastric or duodenal ulcers and prescribed treatment to eliminate the...