-Caveat Lector-
from:
http://www.newscientist.com/ns/19990403/newsstory8.html
Ulcers on tap
by Jon Copley
From New Scientist, 3 April 1999
THE SLIME THAT COATS WATER PIPES could be a haven for
bacteria that cause stomach ulcers and gastric cancer,
according to researchers at Robert Gordon University in
Aberdeen.
Helicobacter pylori has been implicated in a wide
variety of gastrointestinal diseases, from stomach
inflammation to ulcers and even cancer. In developed
countries, half of people over 50 years old carry the
bacterium in their guts, and in developing countries an
even larger proportion of people are affected. Several
animals may harbour the microorganism, but so far no one
has found a reservoir in the environment.
Donald Reid and his colleagues in Scotland thought that
H. pylori might thrive in biofilms. These form when
microorganisms colonise surfaces such as the insides of
water pipes, often surrounding themselves with a sticky
protective film. "Biofilms occur naturally in all water
distribution systems," says Reid.
The researchers grew a biofilm inside stainless steel
pipes in the laboratory and inoculated it with H.
pylori. Even after unchlorinated water was flushed
through the pipes for 192 hours, H. pylori still
infested the biofilm. The team's findings will be
published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology.
"Anywhere there is a biofilm, there is a potential haven
for Helicobacter pylori," says Reid. This is
particularly likely in unchlorinated private wells and
water supplies in developing countries. Although most
public supplies in developed countries are chlorinated,
Reid believes the bacteria could still survive inside
the biofilm. "Chlorine is only going to attack the
upper layers," he says. "By the time those are
destroyed, the chlorine is gone." As the biofilm builds
up, Reid says that bacteria may be washed away a few at
a time or occasionally released as large clumps.
A spokesman for Severn Trent, one of the largest
suppliers of drinking water in Britain, says there are
no studies that show H. pylori in treated water, so it
is not included in routine water testing. "If a study
showed it in treated water, we would want to investigate
further," says the spokesman.
© Copyright New Scientist, RBI Limited 1999
-------=====-------
from: http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/99feb/germs.htm
A New Germ Theory
------------------
<snip>
There is now little doubt that Helicobacter pylori,
found in the stomachs of a third of adults in the United
States, causes inflammation of the stomach lining.
In 20 percent of infected people it produces an ulcer.
Nearly everyone with a duodenal ulcer is infected.
H. pylori infections can be readily diagnosed with
endoscopic biopsy tests, a blood test for antibodies, or
a breath test. In 90 percent of cases the infections
can be cured in less than a month with antibiotics.
(Unfortunately, many doctors still haven't gotten the
news. A Colorado survey found that 46 percent of
patients seeking medical attention for ulcer symptoms
are never tested for H. pylori by their physicians.)
<snip>
H. pylori, the ulcer pathogen, confers a sixfold greater
risk of stomach cancer, and accounts for at least half
of all stomach cancers. Also, the lymphoid tissue of
the stomach can produce a low-grade gastric lymphoma
under the influence of this bacterium. Early reports
indicate that the lymphoma is cured in 50 percent of
cases by resolving the H. pylori infection -- which may
mark the first time in medical history that cancer has
been cured with an antibiotic.
.
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