Listed in the new version of the "carcinogen list" by the US Department of Health, how should Helicobacter pylori be prevented?

◎ Science and Technology Daily reporter Wei Yichen

The Helicobacter pylori that I want to introduce this time must already be everyone's "old acquaintance". Recently, this "old acquaintance" has also been included in the list of carcinogens by the United States.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the 15th edition of the Carcinogen Report, which added 8 new carcinogens. These include chronic infection of Helicobacter pylori as a definitive carcinogen, antimony trioxide as a reasonably suspected carcinogen, and six haloacetic acid byproducts after tap water disinfection that are considered to have teratogenic and carcinogenic side effects.

How common is Helicobacter pylori?

As a special bacterium, Helicobacter pylori is almost universal in our daily lives.

According to the Investigation study on the correlation between Helicobacter pylori infection rates and different environmental factors, Helicobacter pylori infection is the most common chronic bacterial infection in humans, accounting for more than 50% of natural bacterial infections worldwide. Among them, the infection rate in developing countries exceeds that in developed countries. According to the 2001-2014 National Helicobacter pylori survey, the infection rate of Helicobacter pylori in China is between 40% and 90%, with an average of 59%, which means that 3 out of every 5 people are infected with Helicobacter pylori.

Helicobacter pylori is a spiral-shaped, microaerobic bacterium that is very demanding on growth conditions. It was first isolated from gastric mucosal biopsy tissue in patients with chronic active gastritis in 1983 and is the only microbial species known to survive in the human stomach. This bacterium will be "valued" in the human stomach, that is, it will settle in the stomach for a long time, as well as continue to grow and reproduce offspring, it needs to rely on the nutrients continuously provided by the human body, and at the same time will have an impact, such as causing infection.

A poor predictor of the development of helicobacter pylori disease is stomach cancer. Stomach cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide and ranks second among the causes of cancer death. In our country, about 160,000 people die of stomach cancer every year.

What are the symptoms of Infection with Helicobacter pylori?

Helicobacter pylori infection is one of the most common bacterial infections, clinical studies have found that 95% of duodenal ulcers, 70% of gastric ulcers are associated with Helicobacter pylori infection, and Helicobacter pylori infection increases the incidence of peptic ulcers, with an incidence of more than 20%. What are the symptoms of Infection with Helicobacter pylori?

Early Helicobacter pylori infection can present with indigestion, such as early satiety, swollen stomach, belching, unformed stools, unclean, irregularities, and oral odor.

In addition, I often feel hungry and drooling, and after excluding problems such as hyperthyroidism and stroke, I can consider whether I am infected with Helicobacter pylori.

In the most serious cases, there will be stomach pain, swelling pain, sudden emaciation of the body, anemia, etc., and sometimes symptoms of belching, acid reflux, nausea, and vomiting. For Helicobacter pylori, do not panic too much, but daily or pay more attention, once you find that the body has symptoms of discomfort, you should go to the regular medical treatment in time.

How to prevent Helicobacter pylori early on a daily basis?

Helicobacter pylori infection route is mainly through mouth-mouth, fecal-oral transmission, want to prevent early, away from Helicobacter pylori, should do these good habits.

First try to eat as little raw and irritating food as possible, they will irritate the gastric mucosa, reduce its resistance, and thus create conditions for the invasion of Helicobacter pylori. In addition, to do a good job of personal hygiene, before meals to logistically wash hands, oral hygiene should also pay attention to, morning and evening brushing teeth, toothbrush is best to replace every 3 months.

One thing to note is to stop mouth-to-mouth feeding: some elderly people like to feed their children with some food, which is one of the most easily contagious ways. Eating together is a way of infection of Helicobacter pylori, Chinese like to eat together, family dinner, work dinner, and even participate in the wedding feast, etc. in daily life are indispensable, in the process of this dinner, it is actually very easy to infect Helicobacter pylori, often one person infected, it is possible to cause the whole family to be infected. If you need to eat out, try to choose a restaurant with a good environmental hygiene, and it is best to use public chopsticks when eating, which can reduce the chance of infection. If conditions permit, it is not only recommended to use chopsticks for eating out, but also to use chopsticks or use a meal sharing system at home.

Lu Nonghua, head of the Helicobacter pylori group of the Chinese Medical Association and director of the Department of Gastroenterology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, believes that it is not difficult to completely eliminate Helicobacter pylori, as long as the treatment is standardized, 90% of the bacterial infected people can often be eliminated after 1 to 2 weeks of treatment. Lü Nonghua suggested that a national census should be conducted, at least for people who have undergone gastric surgery, have stomach diseases, or have gastric cancer in relatives, and should be tested for Helicobacter pylori, and bactericidal treatment should be carried out for infected people, so that gastric cancer can be controlled.