The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7244 p504
12 April 2003

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H pylori and reflux disease

Helicobacter pylori infection is less prevalent among patients with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease than among those without the disease, a systematic review has shown.

Researchers looked at 20 studies involving 4,134 patients and found that the average prevalence of H pylori infection in patients with reflux disease was 38.2 per cent compared with 49.5 per cent for the comparator group. There was substantial heterogeneity between studies with patients from the Far East with reflux disease having a lower prevalence of infection than patients from western Europe and North America (BMJ 2003;326:737).