Do doctors generally agree on when to treat Helicobacter pylori?

All doctors will advise treatment if you have (or have had) an ulcer. Opinion is divided on whether to treat the infection in other situations. Indeed some doctors advise that it is best to treat every patient who has a positive test for Helicobacter pylori. It is best to discuss with your doctor whether treatment is likely to be right for you.

What research is needed on H. pylori?

H. pylori was only discovered in 1983. Although we have learned an enormous amount about it, there is still much we do not know. For example, it’s just not clear exactly how H. pylori is passed from one person to another, and why only some people with the infection get ulcers. We do not know how H. pylori increases the risk of stomach cancer. A better understanding of this may help us to work out how this cancer arises and might just tell us more about cancer formation more generally. Treatment for H. pylori is now very effective but it can become resistant to common antibiotics and we need to develop strategies to stop this happening as well as finding alternative treatments for cases when resistance develops. We also need to develop a vaccine to prevent H. pylori infection. Finally, H. pylori is gradually becoming less common in the UK, but research is urgently needed on what to do about it in the developing world where it is still very common indeed.