- H Pylori Bacteria -
Smoking Facts About Helicobacter Pylori Infection

H pylori bacteria are now known to be the cause of stomach ulcer. The full name of the bacteria is helicobacter pylori.

The smoking facts reveal that smokers are more resistant to treatment of helicobacter pylori infection and therefore they are more susceptible to gastric (stomach) cancer.

This may be because of the overall negative health effects of smoking cigarettes on immune system function.

Helicobacter Pylori Infection as the Cause of Stomach Ulcer

Up until the 1980s it was thought that stomach ulcers were caused by spicy food, acid, or stress. At that time the current epidemiological evidence showed a greater risk for stomach ulcer among smokers than among non-smokers.

Today infection with bacteria is the model that explains the cause of stomach ulcer and the organism that causes that infection has been identified as helicobacter pylori.

It is estimated that 80 percent of gastric ulcers and 90 percent of duodenal ulcers are caused by the helicobacter pylori infection.

Some people can have helicobacter pylori in their stomach and not have any adverse effects.

However in some individuals the presence of the bacteria weakens the natural protective coating inside the stomach.

This allows the stomach acid to literally digest the tissue causing an ulcer.

As the bacteria and the stomach acid irritate this sore it gets larger and larger eroding through the stomach tissue.

If the ulcer gets large enough to perforate the stomach or if it opens a blood vessel it can be a life threatening situation.

Seeking the Smoking Facts about H Pylori Bacteria

Despite the discovery of this new bacteria and the radical shift in thinking about the cause of stomach ulcer, the epidemiological evidence persists that smokers are more vulnerable to gastric ulcers. So scientists have been seeking a link between the negative gastric effects of smoking cigarettes and the presence of H pylori bacteria.

In 1993 a study published in the UK₁ confirmed the hypothesis that H pylori bacteria was more common among smokers. The results supported the hypothesis that smokers are predisposed to peptic ulcers and that susceptibility to infection with H. pylori bacteria was one of the health effects of smoking cigarettes.

Subsequent studies however, did not prove this to be the case consistently.₂

In some studies treatment of H pylori bacteria has been found to be less successful in smokers,₃ whereas in other studies using different treatment regimes, the differences in treatment outcome between smokers and non smokers was found to be very small.₄

Really it is enough to make your head spin. First smokers are more at risk for helicobacter pylori infection, then they are not.

The body of evidence that is emerging however seems to favour the former statement and not the latter.

While there are some studies that do not support these results they are isolated studies and much fewer in number that those that show smokers are more vulnerable to H pylori infection. Over time the smoking facts will become more solid as more studies confirm or disprove the relationship.

In the meantime it is known that there are many gastrointestinal health effects of smoking cigarettes and they are all negative, so it is entirely plausible that H pylori bacteria can do more damage in a smoker than a non smoker.

Definitely it is known that overall, the process of tissue healing is slower in smokers and that they are more vulnerable to infection because of the negative health effects of smoking cigarettes on the immune system functions.

There is information being learned about this microorganism and how it affects the human body all the time.

Helicobacter pylori infection has also been implicated as a cause of pancreatic carcinoma.

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