You may not realize that you have Helicobacter pylori or H. pylori in your stomach. This bacterium can cause stomach infections. One way to find out is to recognize symptoms of gastric infection.
H.pylori bacteria are spiral and grow in the digestive tract. These bacteria tend to attack the stomach wall. H. pylori can cause injury to the stomach and small intestine. Furthermore, these bacteria can cause peptic ulcers, inflammation of the stomach (gastritis), and if not treated properly can cause gastric cancer.
Gastric organs are part of the digestive tract that plays an important role in killing germs and digesting food by producing stomach acids, and digestive enzymes that can also kill germs. However, H. pylori bacteria can live and survive in an acidic environment in the stomach. In the stomach, these bacteria can grow and multiply in the mucous layer that protects the stomach.
Various Symptoms that Appear
Although the symptoms of gastric infection due to H. pylori bacteria are often not typical, you can detect it from several symptoms that arise, such as:
- Nausea
- Bloated
- Burp often
- Loss of appetite
- Having hot or burning pain in the abdomen, under the rib cage and above the navel or solar plexus.
- Abdominal pain when your stomach is empty, although it usually gets better immediately after eating or drinking milk or antacids
- Weight loss has occurred
In children, symptoms that can be found include nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. However, it is difficult to detect the cause as H. pylori bacteria because these symptoms are also often seen in other diseases.
Research also shows that H. pylori infection can increase the risk of stomach cancer up to six times compared to people without this bacterial infection. There is no clear reason why this bacterium can trigger gastric cancer, especially non-cardia type gastric cancer. However, there is a suspicion that this is because this bacterial infection triggers a long-term inflammatory reaction in the stomach wall that can cause genetic mutations in gastric cells.
Symptoms of gastric cancer can be similar to symptoms of H. pylori infection in the early stages, but over time gastric cancer can cause symptoms of gastrointestinal bleeding or black stools, weakness, weight loss without apparent cause, vomiting and abdominal pain after eating, vomiting blood , and feeling bloated or full quickly despite consuming small amounts of food.
Can be contagious
H. pylori bacteria can be transmitted to others through direct contact with saliva, vomiting, or feces. Besides H. pylori bacteria can also be spread through food or water that has been contaminated.
Infection due to H. pylori bacteria often attacks children and those who live in environments with poor sanitation. For example, if you live in a densely populated housing area, do not have access to clean water or live with an H. pylori bacterial infection sufferer. The habit of rarely washing hands or living in an environment with poor sanitation can be a risk factor for this bacterial infection.
Examination Performed
To detect symptoms of gastric infection due to H. pylori bacteria, the doctor will usually trace your family's medical history. To support the diagnosis, the doctor will do some checks such as examining the stomach to find signs of bloating and pain, as well as listening to sounds in the stomach.
In addition, there is also a blood test, feces, and urea breath test. Urea breath test is a breath test that is done to determine whether there are H. pylori bacteria in the stomach. Before this breath examination is done, the patient will be given a capsule containing urea. If there are H. pylori bacteria, these germs will process urea to carbon dioxide, the amount of carbon dioxide exhaled after the patient takes urea capsules will be measured to see whether there are bacteria or not. If there is an isotope of carbon dioxide in the breath, that is a sign of a positive urea breath test, if no isotope is detected, it means a negative examination.
If necessary, the doctor can perform endoscopy by inserting a special instrument into the mouth to the stomach. Compared to urea breath examination, endoscopy has a higher level of accuracy in the results of the examination in determining whether or not there is a bacterial infection. With endoscopy, the doctor can also simultaneously take a sample of gastric tissue for biopsy examination and examination of bacterial culture to confirm the diagnosis, as well as see whether the bacteria have experienced immunity against certain antibiotics or not.
How to treat gastric infection
To treat the symptoms of gastric infection is usually given a combination of two different antibiotic drugs, plus one type of drug to treat gastritis. This treatment is called triple therapy. These drugs include proton pump inhibitors (PPI) such as esomeprazole and pantoprazole, H2 receptor blockers (H2-receptor antagonist or H2RA) such as cimetidine or ranitidine, and bismuth subsalicylate, plus two types of antibiotics such as amoxicillin, metronidazole, H2RA or clarithromycin.
After four weeks of drug administration, the doctor will advise you to undergo an H. pylori test. If the first treatment is considered unsuccessful, you may be asked to take a different combination of antibiotic drugs.
Symptoms of gastric infection are advised to be overcome immediately through a doctor's consultation. Especially if a stomach infection is accompanied by more serious symptoms such as severe abdominal pain, vomiting accompanied by blood, there are symptoms of malnutrition, weight loss dramatically, bloody or black bowel movements.
Keep in mind, consume all drugs given by doctors and follow the rules of use. When not consumed properly, bacteria in the body can become resistant to antibiotics and cause infections more difficult to treat.
To support the healing of the stomach due to infection, you also need to stay away from cigarettes, alcohol and caffeinated beverages, spicy foods, and herbal medicines or herbs.
Comments
Post a Comment