Episode 24 of the Living Life Well Show: H Pylori and why it is important to check for it
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[00:00:00] Welcome to the Living Life Well Show, the intersection of God's Word, today's science, and healthy living with common sense application, all based on the truth of the Word of God. I'm your host, Dr. Jon Skelton. Now let's get straight to the truth. All right. Welcome to this episode of the living life we'll show today. I'm excited to come to you and talk about an infection and infection that can be responsible for. Lots of issues that you're experiencing in your health. H pylori is a bacteria that we typically associate with ulcers. So why am I talking about H pylori?
Why H pylori is [00:01:00] extremely widespread? We really believe that up to two thirds of the adult population in the world. Are colonated with H pylori where you are, have H pylori has an infection. Now what's interesting about H pylori is not only is it associated with ulcers and we haven't ulcer. Generally you can think of like a reflux type symptoms, heartburn, if you will.
But then of course, ulcer formation. And when. ulcers get really bad. They can bleed and be a cause for gastrointestinal hemorrhage and need for surgery. And when he goes really bad, it can even rupture. And so, if that wasn't bad enough, H pylori is one of the leading bacterial causes of cancer. H pylori causes a lot of stomach cancer.
Now, we don't see that nearly as much in the United States. But [00:02:00] typically in Other countries. We see this quite a bit where their diet is a bit varied from ours, typically in Asian countries. We see it quite often in that population more so than the U S population.
However we do see it here as well. So H pylori, if that wasn't enough, it's a huge disruptor otherwise to your gut and the issue with. H pylori is that. It lives essentially very close to the start of where digestion takes place. Well, when digestion is disrupted. That it creates problems downstream. So H pylori disrupts the acid production and utilization. That are created there in the stomach.
The stomach really is breaking down foods tremendously. To get them into smaller particles. To get them in a [00:03:00] form that is a non-inflammatory and is much more easily digestible. Well, what happens when that isn't able to take place? We end up getting a changes in our gut biome just because of the opportunistic bacteria that are also coming into our mouth besides just H pylori.
And so that creates the alteration, the gut biome. Once there is an alteration in the gut biome. There may be issues with absorption and or production of certain vitamins and nutrients, things like vitamin D B12. Those things that are going on further downstream and the gut. Well, when that happens, then you can get leaky gut. Well, what is leaky gut?
Well, leaky gut is basically where food, particles and substances that you're ingesting. I have not been broken down to the small particles that [00:04:00] God intended. To then cross through the cell membrane into your body. And so when this happens, this can cause inflammation. This can cause immune flares or auto-immune flares.
So things like lupus can be triggered. You can get issues with any type of auto-immune flare when you have leaky gut. So that's why H pylori is so important. Well, what's the big deal. It's a bacteria, right? We can just take an antibiotic and we'll get over it. Right. Well, you know, traditional treatment of H pylori is going to deal with antibiotics, but typically you're going to be taking Generally speaking, two or more antibiotics, plus an acid blocker plus or minus you know, Pepto, if you will. Depending upon what your physician chooses to treat you with and [00:05:00] that treatment lasts for about two weeks or so. But it can be pretty intensive. It'd be taking several pills anywhere from two times a day, up to four times a day. Depending upon the regimen that you and your physician select.
Well, what's the big deal about that? Well, obviously when we take a bunch of antibiotics, we are again affecting the gut biome now. What is important about this is that you're affecting the gut biome with the H pylori being present. The H pylori being present is going to alter those foods and substances as we already discussed, as it goes through, into the small intestine, down into the colon and everywhere, those good beneficial bacteria lip.
So they're not able to be as plentiful. Or maybe even present depending upon how much that H pylori is altering the rest of your gut, that small [00:06:00] intestine creating the opportunity for dysbiosis, because now that a normal production of acid that would have killed those opportunistic. Bacteria that come in that are no matter how much you wash your food, there's still bacteria on it. No matter how much you clean your hands, you're still going to get bacteria and viruses.
And that is one of the main defense mechanisms. Once we get past the mouth. For the body to kill foreign invaders is that acid production in the stomach. And the H pylori is disrupting that, that in turn allows those bacteria to continue to pass through the stomach and alive form and then set up residents and your small intestine and or colon, depending upon. Where they typically reside. That can end up causing a more symptoms with bloating, constipation potentially creating irritable bowel, if you will.
And [00:07:00] so H pylori is right there. At the headwaters of digestion. And so I think you've heard me. If you've heard some of my other podcasts where I've talked about gut health you've maybe heard me speak a little bit about H pylori and how it really sits right there at the if your mouth where the headwaters. For digestion, it's very near the headwaters.
And when you have H pylori it contaminates the entire river. After that. And so. That's why we really want to take care of H Pylori that's why we really want to test for H pylori. So that brings us to, well, how do you even know if you have it? Well, for a couple of reasons, if you're having indigestion type symptoms, if you're having heart burn for having reflux, if you've feel just really full all of a sudden after a meal that could be H pylori, not always, but it could be. [00:08:00]
And so. So there are a lot of different symptoms that you can have with H pylori. Maybe it is just bloating. Maybe it is just some constipation and or diarrhea. And so, it is important to really check for H pylori with anyone that's having any sort of a gut issue. So how do we check?
Well, there's several different ways. There's a blood test or a breath test. Ah, there's a biopsy and then there's stool testing. So blood test is probably the least reliable. It, isn't a great test to use, to test for H pylori. The breath test is probably the most common test and easily available that many labs and potentially doctor's offices as well. And his is very easy to complete and does have fairly good reliability as to the presence or absence of it.
But [00:09:00] when it's in very small quantities, I may miss it. Now the biopsy is done by a gastroenterologist. This is taking things a step further. This is when the gastroenterologist is done at E G D a, where they've gone down through your esophagus down into your stomach and they visualize the lining of your stomach.
Well, if there is H pylori insignificant quantities, typically that's going to cause some lesions or erosions within that lining of your stomach. And they're going to typically biopsy in those areas. Now. If it's a low level infection, isn't causing a lot of erosion or irritation of the lining of the stomach just yet. It could be missed when you're doing a biopsy, because you're just really looking at one particular area.
Now the stool test is what I like and I like it for a couple of different reasons. Because similar [00:10:00] to the biopsy, you are actually getting the bacteria. So when a biopsy is positive, That means that we actually have the bacteria, the DNA of it. Well, the other issue with H pylori is it can be very difficult to eradicate success rates on oral antibiotic therapy anywhere from around mid eighties to low nineties, which sounds pretty good. But the problem is it recurs very often? And so what we want to know is what type of bacteria is it? Is it. Able to be defeated with easier antibiotics or do we have to use the more harsh antibiotics? And is it associated with any particular cancers or turning into something else?
What we call virulence factors. So. You want to get that information in the best way to do that [00:11:00] typically is through stool testing. The stool is going to shed that, that bacteria in your stool. So there are going to be DNA remnants of the H pylori in your stool. And so when we get that stool, then we can look for those virulence factors.
Those antibiotic resistance genes. And then that can help really guide. How we go about treating it? Now there are some natural treatments as well. Things like mastica gum there's potentially even some teas that, that would work as well. But. But what you really need to do to help with this as well, regardless of whether you try the traditional route or whether you choose to go the more natural route the big thing that you need to do. Is two things, one. Change your diet. You need to eliminate sugar and grains as much as possible.
Now for many people, this may also mean eliminating [00:12:00] some fruits. Those that typically have more acid in them. Things like oranges and lemons and things like that. That could tend to cause a little bit more discomfort. While you're going through this process of treating the H pylori cutting off the sugar and the grains is going to help to decrease. That food source. For the H Pylori it's gonna allow for decreased inflammation overall that H pylori in and of itself is gonna contribute to inflammation.
And so the last thing we want to do is continue to take in things that are causing more inflammation.
Other. Other things that you may want. To think about Eliminating. If you. Do have H pylori. Sorry, this is going to be things. Like I'll call that. In general. Will is going to be an irritant. To our mucosa. Mucosal lining. In general at. And it can Continue to kind of. Flare since. Symptoms. So that would be another thing that you would really want to leave off now. [00:13:00] There are some different herbs and things like aloe Vera juice in general, that is going to be healing to the gut. You can also do a magnesium is going to be good along with calcium. Those are going to be important.
Nutrients. To help in general. With digestion and healing overall. Now, as far as something else that really needs to be done, that people don't really talk about much is having your significant other tested. If there's somebody that you really do life with. So, they talk about, you know, mano being the kissing disease.
Well, I would say H pylori is in that category as well. We typically get it from contaminated foods and things like that. However once it's in a household. It can be in most of the household. Especially if there's somebody that eats or drinks after you and you have it, or vice versa. So what I see many times and part of the issue with the success rate [00:14:00] of antibiotics and treatment and recurrence. Is that if the spouse or significant other, or, you know, if you have little kids potentially you may be passing it back and forth.
So we may treat one person. But the other person is still colonized with it and it can cause very minimal symptoms or symptoms. That, again, you don't necessarily associate strictly with H pylori being reflux and heartburn, if you will. And upper abdominal pain. That isn't the only symptoms. It creates.
And so you might not even suspect that you have. And so if you're a silent carrier, you may be passing that on. To your significant other, so. That's why I really suggest anytime there's a husband and wife, that if we find it in one, the other is checked also. And we treat both simultaneously. That is going to then ensure [00:15:00] the best likelihood. Of complete eradication because once we have treated the H pylori, whatever the modality is that you chose you want to then test again, but you want to wait a period of at least a month to two months before you retest. Part of the reason is we want to allow time for that gut to heal, to make sure that hopefully now non recurrent insult or presence of that H pylori has been eradicated the source, if you will has been eliminated.
And then we want to make sure that we've killed it off completely. So. It takes time for a bacteria to replicate just like any cell in our body takes time for that one particular cell that turned into two to turn into four to eight to 16 and so on. And so we want to make sure that we're able to find it when we do look for it.
So that's why we want to [00:16:00] wait that month to two month period. Now. When you are looking at that, I, again, suggest. You know, repeating. The stool analysis, because that is going to be the way that you're going to ensure that you have had complete eradication versus just partial.
However, the second best test. Because the main reason for doing the stool test at the initial is to find out a, if you have it be, if you do have it, what type of H pylori is it? Is it resistant to a particular antibiotic? Does it have a particular, virulence factor associated with it? What type of infection are we dealing with?
How difficult is this going to be to kill? And that gives you that idea. But again, as we talked about, the . Breath test could miss it. I would not recommend repeating a blood test. The EGD with biopsy is just a little bit difficult to come by. So that may be a little [00:17:00] bit impractical. Although the stool test is a little bit messy, needless to say. It is. Generally speaking readily available.
So. That's a little bit about H pylori. What I really see as a quote. Gateway infection, if you will, to the gut and really being responsible for a lot of the other things that we see that the chronic constipation that. The chronic abdominal pain that the diarrhea, the bloating. The potential for auto immune flares. That are going on.
And so we really want to be careful with this, and we really want to make sure that we're investigating. To know a, if you have it and B if you have it, How significant is it? Is it in large quantities? Is it in small quantities? Does it have any of those virulence factors and is it resistant to antibiotics?
And if so, which ones. So that is just a recap today. I hope you [00:18:00] found this beneficial. If you want to learn more about H pylori or potentially, if you think that you have this, or if you struggled with chronic abdominal issues I would suggest speaking with your physician and if your physician is an open. To helping you with that, you can always contact us here at Live Life Well Clinic.
Just go to livelifewellclinic.com and click on a schedule. That discovery call it's a free 20 minute. A phone call where you and I can kind of discuss. What's going on with your health, what you're looking for and what next steps might be. So. If that sounds great to you, and if you're enjoying this content, I do ask that you would like subscribe and share that always helps get the word out to more people. Hope you have a great day.
Thanks. And God bless.
That's it for this episode of the Living Life Well Show. If you like what you've heard and want to learn more, [00:19:00] or want to know how to put this into practice for yourself, go to livelifewellclinic.com. Until next time, this is Dr. Jon Skelton saying, go out and live the truth so you can live life well. The preceding is for entertainment and educational purposes only. It is not meant to be used to prevent, diagnose, treat, or cure any condition. The information contained in this show does not substitute the need for a qualified medical professional, nor is it meant to provide medical advice or services.
If you feel information presented in this show may apply to you, we recommend you seek out the help of a qualified medical professional who can evaluate and treat your specific concerns.
