H. Pylori Drugs All Good — If You Take Them

The specific treatment for a stomach infection may be less important than how well people stick with it. That’s one conclusion of a new study on treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection. H. pylori bacteria are linked with stomach inflammation (gastritis) and ulcers. Long-term infection also increases the risk of stomach cancer. The new study included 1,463 adults from Latin America. All were infected with H. pylori. They were randomly divided into groups. The groups took different combinations of antibiotics for 5 to 14 days. Tests one year later showed nearly 80% were free of the infection. Rates were similar for all treatment groups. For about 11% of those who had successful treatment at first, the infection came back. H. pylori was most likely to return if people didn’t take their medicines exactly as prescribed.