The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 274 No 7349 p575
14 May 2005

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Evidence lacking on value of H pylori eradication

There is a lack of clear evidence on the value of eradicating Helicobacter pylori infection in patients with, or at high risk of developing, gastric or duodenal ulcers, the latest issue of the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin concludes.

DTB suggests that testing for and eradicating H pylori is reasonable in patients with dyspepsia or a previous history of ulceration when they start non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the first time. But it recommends that patients who go on to develop an ulcer should stop taking the NSAID and have ulcer-healing treatment. In such cases, and in patients who continue to take NSAID therapy in combination with a proton pump inhibitor, DTB states that H pylori eradication therapy appears to provide no ulcer-healing benefit (2005;43:37).