GERD and H. Pylori - a link?

I'm new to the forum... my husband has suffered from chronic heartburn for several years and recently tested positive for H. Pylori. The doctor put him on a course of antibiotics to kill the H. Pylori, and we were quite familiar with the antibiotics because several members of his family have suffered from ulcers and were put on similar regimes, after which their ulcers disappeared. He is from a country with very high rates of h. Pylori infection.

I am curious about the connection between h. pylori and GERD, and found the link below through this forum.

Could there be a pharmaceutical industry conspiracy to suppress studies showing a link between GERD and h. Pylori? After all, if there is no real cure for GERD you have to be on medicine for life, making you a lifetime customer for medicines that manage your conditions without ever really resolving them. That's kind of depressing, and reminds me of the old treatment for ulcers (avoid spicy, acidic, or fatty foods) before they discovered h. Pylori in the 1980s.

Anyone else out there been tested for h. Pylori and found antibiotic therapy (lansoprazole, amoxicillin, clarithromycin) to be effective in relieving GERD?

See the study below...

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There are several reasons for eradicating Helicobacter pylori in patients with chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Perhaps the most compelling is the evidence that chronic acid suppression therapy can lead to the development of atrophic gastritis, a premalignant condition, in patients with H pylori infection. Epidemiological data that suggest that H pylori is less prevalent in GERD patients than in control subjects may be susceptible to publication bias, and confounding social and environmental factors may also be involved. Although it has been thought that eradication of the organism might lead to increased esophageal acid exposure, this has not been demonstrated in practice. Studies that appeared to show that GERD could be provoked by antimicrobial therapy of duodenal ulcers also have methodological weaknesses. Underlying GERD symptoms might be unmasked after withdrawal of acid-suppression therapy, for reasons that are unrelated to H pylori. In fact, eradication of the organism has been shown to decrease heartburn in patients with peptic ulcer disease. When H pylori is successfully eradicated in patients with GERD, relapse rates are not increased, and the disease-free interval seems to be prolonged. Eradication of the organism is a wise policy in patients who face long term acid-suppression therapy for GERD.

http://www.pulsus.com/Gastro/16_09/omar_ed.htm

Hi and Welcome Zoom!

I had never heard of GERD being caused by HPylori Bacteria.  The bacteria from my understanding causes an infection which in turn causes ulcers and gastritis.  That's why it can be helped with antibiotic therapy, since it's a bacteria.  GERD is usually brought on by other physical factors, like a relaxed LES, but not an infection from a bacteria, at least from what I've been told by my Dr.'s and from what I've read.  Interesting...Teri :)

http://www.cdc.gov/ulcer/md.htm#illnesses

Hi,

I believe that during the course of antibiotics to erradicate H. Pylori, you are also inhibiting your population of intestinal bacteria. These bacteria consume the excess carbohydrates in your diet and as a result produce gas. I belive this gas (hydrogen, Carbon dioxide and often times methane) is what drives reflux. It makes sense that the antibiotics might temporarily stop reflux depending on the type of antibiotic used. Erythromycin has been shown to have a positive impact on reflux, though the authors did not understand the reason. The reason the reflux comes back is because you either stop the antiobiotics or a new and resistant population emerges in your intestines and resumes gas production. The way to stop reflux is to reduce your consumption of excess carbohydrates. I recently have written a book on this, though, unfortuantely I cannot promote the book due to the rules of the message board.

Please do consider the very effective approach.

Dr. Norm

Vanessa,

Nice to hear from you again. By the way, H. Pylori (while associated with peptic ulcers) is generally not thought to be associated with heartburn, because this bacterium has evolved mechanisms (like ureas enzyme to produce ammonia (basic) from urea) to reduce stomach acidity in order to survive in this hostile environment. This bacterium may even reduce heartburn symptoms according to some.

Take Care,

Dr. Norm

He's tried yogurt before, but it hasn't done anything to get rid of the h. pylori. My concern is also the links between h. pylori and stomach cancer...

Though H.Pylori is not generally considered a contributing cause of GERD, the risk of peptic ulcers (some strains of pylori have a syringe-like protein that "injects" proteins through the somach lining to down regulate acid production according to a recent Scientific American article. That type of activity is thought to potentially result in ulcers), are a good reason to get rid of it. Your gut microbial population is resiliant and will adjust once you stop treatment.