A new friend at Longecity.com posted a very provocative message about H. Pylori, bacteria that can take up residence in the human stomach and which has been linked to increased disease. Here is a provocative review of the situation:
Coadaptation of Helicobacter pylori and humans: ancient history, modern implications
J Clin Invest. 2009 September 1; 119(9): 2475–2487.
John C. Atherton and Martin J. Blaser
doi: 10.1172/JCI38605, PMCID: PMC2735910
PMID: 19729845, NIH, NLM, PubMed access to MEDLINE
Abstract
Humans have been colonized by Helicobacter pylori for at least 50,000 years and probably throughout their evolution. H. pylori has adapted to humans, colonizing children and persisting throughout life. Most strains possess factors that subtly modulate the host environment, increasing the risk of peptic ulceration, gastric adenocarcinoma, and possibly other diseases. H. pylori genes, encoding these and other factors, rapidly evolve through mutation and recombination – changing the bacteria-host interaction. Although immune and physiologic responses to H. pylori also contribute to pathogenesis, humans have evolved in concert with the bacterium, and its recent absence throughout the life of many individuals has led to new human physiological changes. These may have contributed to recent increases in esophageal adenocarcinoma and, more speculatively, other modern diseases.
Helicobacter pylori, Gram-negative bacilli that colonize the human stomach, are the main cause of peptic ulceration, gastric lymphoma, and gastric adenocarcinoma, the second leading cause of death from cancer worldwide. They also may contribute to other conditions, including iron and vitamin B12 deficiencies, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), and growth retardation in children. H. pylori colonization occurs in childhood and persists throughout life, causing disease mainly in adults (1, 2). However, despite the fact that about half the world’s population carries H. pylori, only a small proportion develop ulcers or gastric cancer. This raises a number of questions, including how has H. pylori adapted to persistently colonize humans? and why (and how) does it cause disease in only a minority of those colonized?
The other side of this coin is that although humans have been colonized for millennia by H. pylori, it is now disappearing (2, 3), During the time period over which H. pylori has gradually disappeared from some populations, including much of the USA and western Europe, other diseases have become more prevalent. For example, there is an increased incidence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and its complications; obesity and its associated diseases, including type 2 diabetes; and atopic and allergic diseases, including asthma. These observations also raise a number of questions, including how have we adapted to H. pylori colonization over millennia? and does the absence of H. pylori cause any physiologic or immunologic imbalances that contribute to diseases of modern life? As we discuss in this Review, (link to the full paper) recent extensive genomic and molecular analyses have shed some light on these issues.
So what can we do about it? Our suggestion is to not try to get rid of H. Pylori, but to minimize its effect by tipping the gut microbial balance in favor of good bacteria. It looks like cranberry juice can help with that:
Effect of cranberry juice on eradication of Helicobacter pylori in patients treated with antibiotics and a proton pump inhibitor.
Mol Nutr Food Res. 2007 Jun;51(6):746-51.
Shmuely H, Yahav J, Samra Z, Chodick G, Koren R, Niv Y, Ofek I.
Helicobacter pylori Research Institute, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Campus, Petah Tikva, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Abstract
Cranberry constituents are known to exert anti-adhesion activity on H. pylori in vitro. To determine their possible additive effect to triple therapy with omeprazole, amoxicillin and clarithromycin (OAC), a double-blind randomized clinical study was carried out. One-hundred-seventy-seven patients with H. pylori infection treated with OAC for 1 week were randomly allocated to receive 250 mL of either cranberry juice (cranberry-OAC, n = 89) or placebo beverage (placebo-OAC, n = 88) twice daily and only cranberry juice or placebo beverage for the next 2 weeks. Treatment outcome was determined with the 13C urea breath test (13C-UBT). An additional control group consisted of patients referred to the same center during the same period who were treated with OAC alone for 1 week (non-placebo-OAC, n = 712). Overall, the rate of H. pylori eradication (13C-UBT < 3.5) was 82.5%, with no statistically significant difference among the three arms.
Analysis by gender revealed that for female subjects, the eradication rate was higher in the cranberry-OAC arm (n = 42, 95.2%) than in the placebo-OAC arm (n = 53, 86.8%) and significantly higher than in the non-placebo-OAC group (n = 425, 80%; p = 0.03).
]For males, the rate was nonsignificantly lower in the cranberry-OAC arm (n = 35, 73.9%) than in the placebo-OAC arm (n = 45, 80.0%) and non-placebo-OAC group (n = 287, 85.0%). These results suggest that the addition of cranberry to triple therapy improves the rate of H. pylori eradication in females.
It is likely that variations in dietary intake could have affected these results. A more controlled diet, e.g., following the CR Way, could work much better with cranberry juice. Further for best results, using unsweetened juice would be essential. Otherwise, the sugar in the juice might feed the target bacteria, making it more resistant.
Finally for those of you who are fasting, cranberry juice may be useful in breaking your fast – a time when pathogenic bacteria may be most vulnerable – A tease meal for a healthier gut.
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