A doctor yesterday reminded people not to take certain types of drugs before getting a stool antigen test for Helicobacter pylori amid a one-time government-funded testing program for people aged 45 to 74.
Shu-Tien Clinic gastroenterologist Kang Pen-chu (康本初) said a woman in her 40s, surnamed Wang (王), often took over-the-counter (OTC) medicine to relieve her stomach discomfort, but it remained intermittently.
Wang had sought treatment for stomach ulcer and H. pylori infection a few years earlier, so she was suspicious that her condition was a relapse of the previous infection, but a recent health check that included a H. pylori stool antigen test came back negative, Kang said.
Photo: Tsai Ssu-pei, Taipei Times
Kang said that as Wang’s stomach discomfort continued, she sought treatment at the clinic, and he asked if she was taking medication before the screening test as it could affect the test results.
Wang later underwent a gastroscopy, which confirmed that she was infected with H. pylori.
H. pylori infection is closely associated with several stomach diseases, including chronic gastritis, gastric ulcers, duodenal ulcers and gastric cancer, Kang said, adding that H. pylori is deemed a Group 1 carcinogen by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Most infections cause no symptoms, but some could experience gastrointestinal symptoms such as stomach pain, indigestion, nausea, vomiting and bloating, Kang said.
If a chronic infection is left untreated, the risk of developing gastric cancer increases over time, he said.
Studies have also suggested that a H. pylori infection is significantly associated with anemia, vitamin B12 deficiency, immune thrombocytopenia and metabolic syndrome, he said.
Kang said that common H. pylori screening tests include stool antigen test, urea breath test and gastroscopy biopsy, and that the first two are non-invasive and more convenient methods, but a gastroscopy can examine the upper digestive tract and take tissue samples for microscopic examination.
However, if the person is taking certain medications, including antibiotics, proton pump inhibitors or antacids, bacterial activity can be suppressed, causing the test results to come back “false negative,” he said.
For more accurate result, people should undergo H. pylori screening tests after they stop taking such drugs for at least a month, Kang said.
H. pylori treatment typically consists of a course of oral antibiotics for seven to 14 days, but people should be aware of potential relapse, especially those with family history of chronic infection or those with chronic stomach discomfort, he said.
Recurrent stomach discomfort is not necessarily caused by stomach ulcer, so instead of buying OTC drugs to relieve the symptoms, people should seek medical attention and undergo tests to clarify the cause, he added.
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