Helicobacter pylori is a type of bacteria. It makes a home out of the mucous in an individual’s stomach. People infected with it would probably never even know they have it. It may even provide some sort of benefit to the individuals infected with it.

However, the bacteria has been linked to stomach cancer. People infected with Helicobacter pylori have been shown to be at 6 times the risk of developing stomach cancer than those who are not infected.

To help put this in perspective for you, a study in Austria compared the incidence of stomach cancer in people with and without Helicobacter pylori. Only 1% of the people with Helicobacter pylori developed stomach cancer and only 0.0075% of those without Helicobacter pylori 0.0075% develop stomach cancer. So there is an increase, but it is still fairly low. If you show positive for these bacterium, you really don’t need to panic. Scientists think a combination between Helicobacter pylori and a defect in the p53 gene leads to most of the cancers.

Actually, one-half the world’s population is infected with Helicobacter pylori. In developed countries like ours the percent is much less while in the developing countries it is much higher. Since Helicobacter pylori is listed as a known human carcinogen in the Report of Carcinogens, there has been talk of Helicobacter pylori eradication.

The problem is that it may be harmful to eradicate this bacteria. Some physicians believe Helicobacter pylori may provide a benefit and that trying to eradicate it may cause more damage to an individual than it is worth. Also, very few of the people who are infected actually develop stomach cancer. At this point, many physicians believe the best solution is to look for the bacteria in the people with a family history of stomach cancer (since they may be at high risk). If they show up positive, then it might be helpful to try to eradicate the bacteria in them.