Talking about the "other side" of Helicobacter pylori (I)

When it comes to Helicobacter pylori (Hp), many people are familiar with it, and some may even be afraid of it. This is because Hp is the culprit of digestive tract diseases, such as chronic gastritis, peptic ulcers, and even gastric cancer. In fact, digestive tract diseases are just the tip of the iceberg of Hp's harm. Hp-infected people may be at greater risk of many aspects such as nervous system diseases, skin diseases, and blood diseases.

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Hp infection and nervous system diseases

Studies have found that Hp infection is related to some neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's disease, etc.

Taking AD as an example, the clinical evidence supporting the view that "Hp infection is related to AD" is that Hp-infected people have a higher risk of AD than non-infected people, and the use of Hp root treatment can delay the progression of AD; the corresponding laboratory test evidence is that the levels of anti-Hp antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid and serum of AD patients are significantly higher than those of cognitively normal individuals of the same age, and the level of anti-Hp antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid is related to the severity of AD.

There are currently three hypotheses about the possible ways that Hp enters the brain. One is that Hp enters the brain through the oral-nasal-olfactory pathway. In fact, 90% of AD patients have decreased olfactory function. Another is that Hp enters the brain through infected monocytes. The third is that Hp may enter the brain from the gastrointestinal tract through a rapid reverse neural pathway.

Hp infection and skin diseases

Hp infection is also associated with some skin diseases.

The most common skin disease associated with Hp infection is rosacea. Although the cause of rosacea is not fully understood, patients with rosacea often suffer from gastrointestinal diseases. On the one hand, Hp infection is more common in patients with rosacea than in patients without rosacea; on the other hand, the skin lesions of most rosacea patients will partially or even completely disappear after the successful eradication of Hp infection. Therefore, based on the results of most studies, it can be recommended that patients with rosacea undergo Hp infection testing and radical treatment.

It can be seen that Hp infection is not simple!