HELICOBACTER-PYLORI - NEW DEVELOPMENTS AND TREATMENTS

THE AUTHORS HIGHLIGHT NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN RESEARCH on Helicobacter pyl ori. There is now consensus that all patients with newly diagnosed or recurrent duodenal or gastric ulcers who have a positive test result f or H. pylori should be treated for the infection. Patients presenting with complications of ulcers, such as bleeding, should also be treated . H. pylori has recently been classified as a definite human carcinoge n by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. In treatment, ne w combination regimens, consisting of 3 or 4 different drugs, cure the infection in more than 80% of patients. Currently, the best combinati ons are: (1) omeprazole (or another proton-pump inhibitor), clarithrom ycin and metronidazole, (2) omeprazole (or another proton-pump inhibit or), clarithromycin and amoxicillin, (3) bismuth subsalicylate, tetrac ycline and metronidazole, and (4) omeprazole, bismuth subsalicylate, t etracycline and metronidazole.