Ecology of life. Health: Do you suffer from heartburn, abdominal pain, nausea, belching, early satiety after eating? It may turn out that the main cause of such complaints is an infection caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, the main causative agent.
Earlier in medicine, it was believed that a microorganism capable of surviving in the acidic, salty environment of the stomach does not exist in principle. But then doctors did not suspect the existence of Helicobacter pylori. Helicobacter pylori was discovered only in 1979 by an Australian scientist Robin Warren. Together with a scientist colleague, Dr. Barry Marshall, the "pioneers" managed to grow this Helicobacter bacterium in the laboratory. Then they only suggested that it was she who was the culprit of gastritis and stomach ulcers, and not at all malnutrition or stress, as previously thought. In an attempt to confirm the correctness of his guess, Barry Marshall conducted an experiment on himself by drinking the contents of a Petri dish in which Helicobacter pylori was cultivated. Just a few days later, the scientist discovered gastritis. It was possible to cure him by taking metronidazole for two weeks. And already in 2005, the authors of this discovery, scientists received the Nobel Prize in medicine for their discovery. The whole world has recognized that ulcers and gastritis, with all the ensuing and concomitant diseases, appear precisely because of Helicobacter pylori.
Where do helicobacteria come from?
Helicobacter has adapted and survives without problems in the human body. This bacterium has flagella, thanks to which it moves quite quickly in the thick mucus that lines the walls of the stomach. Moreover, it produces urease, a special enzyme that neutralizes hydrochloric acid and provides a comfortable environment for bacteria. The occurrence of gastritis occurs due to the release of toxins by the bacterium, firstly, and secondly, the dissolution of protective mucus, as a result of which food enzymes and hydrochloric acid enter the gastric mucosa, corroding it to ulcers.
Helicobacter, as it turns out, is a very common infection. Scientists believe that its carriers are 2/3 of the population of the entire planet. Least of all people are infected with Helicobacter pylori infection in the USA and Western Europe. This is explained by the fact that antibiotics are most widely used there, in combination with high standards of sanitation and hygiene.
The discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori was truly revolutionary, because along with it the myth was dispelled that bacteria cannot survive in an acidic gastric environment, and it turned out that this bacterium is the cause of most of the known diseases of the stomach. In addition, since this is a bacterium, antibiotics as part of restorative therapy can prevent and cure ulcers, gastritis and other diseases of the stomach and intestines.
Features of helicobacteriosis
First feature: The bacterium successfully resists the extremely acidic gastric environment. Due to the high acidity, bacteria and viruses in the stomach die, in any case, most of them. Helicobacteria, on the other hand, resist acidity. Thus, the Helicobacter bacterium is fixed on the walls of the stomach and is able to remain there for many decades in complete “comfort and safety”.
Second feature: The bacterium is the main cause of diseases that occur in the stomach and duodenum. Reproducing, the bacterium simply destroys the cells of the stomach. Namely, chronic inflammation and gastritis leads to the release of harmful substances, toxins by the bacterium. As a result of the weakening of the gastric mucosa, duodenal ulcers, erosions and ulcers appear, and the risk of developing stomach cancer increases. It is already known for certain that the bacterium Helicobacter is the main cause of stomach cancer in humans.
Third feature: Helicobacter pylori infection is destroyed through a course of treatment of Helicobacteriosis with antibiotics and drugs that regulate the level of acidity in the stomach.
Causes
Helicobacter pylori bacteria cannot live in the air, they die. Helicobacter pylori infection is transmitted only through saliva and mucus upon contact of the carrier of the bacterium and a healthy person. Often, infection occurs as a result of the general use of personal hygiene products, utensils, kissing or from mother to child. That is, the family, cohabitants or friends of a person who is a carrier of Helicobacter pylori falls into the risk group for infection. Once in the stomach through the human esophagus, under the influence of hydrochloric acid, the bacterium does not die. Further, everything is according to the already known scheme: the bacterium lives, multiplies, helicobacteriosis develops, poisons the body, destroys the tissues of the stomach and intestines, disrupts normal functioning. Further, inflammation of the gastric mucosa, the development of gastritis, ulcers, the risk of stomach cancer and other equally dangerous diseases.
Symptoms
Symptoms that indicate a possible infection are manifested in the form of frequently recurring pain in the stomach. As a rule, the pain comes on an empty stomach, and calms down after eating. This indicates the presence of erosions and ulcers on the walls of the stomach, which were formed as a result of the vital activity of the bacterium. Also, the symptoms of helicobacteriosis can manifest themselves in the form of heartburn, which worsens over time, heaviness in the stomach, poor digestibility of meat food, nausea and vomiting. If a person has the indicated symptoms of Helicobacter pylori, he should undergo a test - an analysis for Helicobacter pylori, the diagnosis implies the use of biochemical reactions in the blood serum, by which the content of immunoglobulins is determined. Breath tests and endoscopy are also used for diagnosis.
Helictobacteriosis treatment
Treatment for Helicobacter pylori provides for complex therapy aimed at destroying the harmful microorganism Helicobacter pylori in the stomach. Treatment of helicobacteriosis by destroying the bacteria is a prerequisite for the healing of erosions and ulcers to begin. Antibiotics as part of restorative therapy can prevent and cure ulcers, gastritis and other diseases of the stomach and intestines associated with the vital activity of bacteria. Treatment of helicobacteriosis is carried out with antibiotics and drugs that regulate the level of acidity in the stomach. You should be aware that not all carriers of this bacterium experience symptoms of the disease.The bacterium for a very long time may not manifest itself in any way at all, remaining in an inactive state in the walls of the stomach.
The development, activation of helicobacteriosis is largely influenced by the lifestyle that a person leads: unhealthy diet, alcohol abuse, smoking and frequent nervous strains that weaken the protective functions of the body. Therefore, a particularly important link is the prevention of infection with Helicobacter pylori. Follow basic hygiene rules: wash your hands before eating, do not use shared and dirty dishes, other people's personal hygiene products. If a person is found to have helicobacteriosis, all members of his family, without exception, are subject to mandatory examination.
Helicobacter pylori is a dangerous microorganism that can lead to the development of serious diseases. In order to effectively deal with the problem, at the very first symptoms of the presence of this bacterium in the body, one should undergo a special test and, if necessary, engage in complex treatment, which involves combining the achievements of traditional and classical medicine. published
The emergence of life is the main question that has always worried rational humanity. The answers to it changed as often as the idea of a person about the world order. At the same time, both versions about the divine nature of life and assumptions that life is born on its own could coexist: throw a rag into the corner of the hut - and after some time mice will be born from this rag. In fairness, it should be noted that the point on this issue has not been set today. Moreover, modern science cannot even answer the question of what life is. But what natural scientists are unanimous about is that, most likely, the very first organic creatures on planet Earth were the first bacteria.
It is not an easy decision to accept that organic life developed from the simplest unicellular organism, which is not visible in every microscope. Even modern society is not quite ready to give up the idea of the presence of God's providence and take full responsibility for what is happening solely on itself, and in earlier centuries such ideas were called heresy and sedition.
Ethical and cultural aspects of social life have always influenced the speed and direction of scientific and technological progress (and this influence was far from always negative). But, in addition to ethical problems, there are also objective difficulties that do not allow dotting the i's in matters of the appearance of the first living organisms.
The following circumstances do not allow to finally secure the right of autotrophic and heterotrophic bacteria to be pioneers in the formation of organic life on planet Earth:
- One of the principles of the scientific approach, which says that nature is basically unknowable and there is always a chance to get new data that can change the official scientific paradigm.
- The absence of a complete picture of the process, as a result of which a complex self-copying organic molecule could arise from inorganic compounds.
- Lack of access to sedimentary deposits that formed on planet Earth at the very beginning of its existence.
It is from these three positions that we can consider the questions of:
- When did the first microorganisms form?
- how bacterial communities developed, whether they have survived to this day;
- what are the prospects for bacteria on this planet, including in the context of cooperation with humans.
When did they appear
Despite the fact that modern science knows a lot about the simplest non-nuclear organisms (bacteria), there are no reliable data on the first representatives of this kingdom of organic life today, like many years ago.
There are suggestions that the very first autotrophic bacteria appeared on Earth in the first hundred million years of the planet's existence.
So far, this hypothesis can neither be confirmed nor refuted. There are several reasons for this uncertainty:
- The oldest sedimentary deposits found today date back 3.9 billion years and already contain traces of bacteria.
- The inability to examine later rocks suggests that they may also contain traces of bacteria.
It seems that the question of when bacteria appeared and how many years ago organic molecules began to copy themselves using the energy received from the environment is postponed until the discovery of geological objects with an age that is as close as possible to the age of the planet.
How did
If we abstract from when the very first prokaryotes appeared, and ask ourselves how they appeared, you can learn a lot of interesting things about what organic terrestrial life generally rests on.
The answer lies in those first processes that originated in the lifeless and poisonous, by modern standards, waters of the primary ocean.
Today it is reliably known that no matter how many years ago the first bacterial cells arose, they formed as organisms under conditions in which neither plants nor animals that are part of the modern biosphere can exist.
According to indirect and speculative assumptions, the conditions under which the first terrestrial life was born in the first billion years of the planet's existence were as follows:
- As a result of the gravitational differentiation of the elements of which the Earth originally consisted, the process of formation of protospheres was launched.
- Gravitational differentiation contributed to the heating of the planet and, as a result, the melting of its upper shell.
- Melting triggered mantle degassing processes, resulting in the formation of a primary atmosphere, which consisted of water vapor, methane, ammonia, molecular nitrogen, and sulfurous fumes.
- Due to the gradual settling of heavy iron and the formation of the core of the planet, the temperature on the surface decreased, and the upper shell began to gradually cool.
- Cooling water vapor rained down on the still hot mantle of the Earth, and immediately a large amount of moisture evaporated back into the upper layers of the primary atmosphere.
- As a result of multiple processes of condensation and evaporation, the Earth's hydrosphere and atmosphere were formed, and the geochemical cycle was launched.
It was in this primary ocean with the newly born geochemical cycle that the conditions arose in which the first nuclear-free cell was born. It is still impossible to say how many years ago this happened, this knowledge is currently inaccessible to researchers.
The very process of the gradual formation of the first bacteria is now partially studied.
According to data confirmed by many scientific experiments, the sequence of formation of organic structures, which later became the first bacterium, looked like this:
- As a result of competition between chemical reactions, a struggle arose for the starting materials. Those reactions that were able to proceed (react) faster won. The reaction rate is increased by the presence of catalysts.
- In the competition, reactions arose that were catalyzed by their own products, and these reactions turned out to be in the most advantageous position. All these conclusions are confirmed by scientific experiments, and it is not surprising that after such results, scientists began to doubt what is life and what is not.
- The appearance of the first autocatalytic cycle became a prerequisite for the emergence of RNA organisms, which only knew how to copy themselves using chemicals dissolved in the primary ocean, but for earthly life it was a huge breakthrough, since the so-called RNA world appeared, a harbinger of organic life.
- The evolution of the RNA world solved the issues of providing chemical reactions with the "cheap" energy of ATP, in addition, using their molecular "tails", RNA learned to "assemble" proteins and, moreover, eventually created a DNA molecule - the only and unsurpassed custodian of the genetic information.
- The shell of the first bacteria was formed from lipids (fats) also present in the primary ocean, these are the so-called coacervate drops. Not being living organisms, these droplets can grow, share and exchange substances with the environment.
The RNA molecule supposedly found inside the coacervate drop gained advantages over those RNA molecules that continued to exist in the open space of the ocean, and this became the starting point for the formation of a biological cell as a single complex of coordinated biochemical processes.
The role of the first bacteria
All the issues that nature solved in the process of creating the first bacteria, in fact, came down to one main issue - the stabilization of the geochemical cycle that arose on the planet at the time of the formation of its main spheres.
It is difficult to imagine, but it is bacteria (autotrophs and heterotrophs):
- formed a fertile layer of soil;
- saturate the atmosphere with oxygen;
- created the prerequisites for the emergence of nuclear organisms (eukaryotes), which subsequently developed into two kingdoms: plants and animals.
All these products of vital activity of the simplest organisms were included in the general circulation of substances in nature and gradually became its obligatory structural elements.
However, bacteria have not lost their leading role in the life of the Earth. Today, as many years ago, autotrophic bacteria synthesize organic substances from inorganic compounds, and heterotrophic bacteria decompose organic matter into inorganic compounds. Bacteria perform two necessary conditions for the cycle.
Echoes in modern times
Today it is difficult to make categorical statements about what those first prokaryotes were many years ago, because there is no complete data on the conditions in which these first microorganisms lived.
But the search for traces of the origin of organic life continues, and sometimes scientists get the opportunity to lift the veil of secrecy.
Thus, interesting information was obtained during the study of the colony of archaea (non-nuclear microorganisms) Ferroplasma (Ferroplasma acidiphilum), found in the reactor of one of the metallurgical plants in the Tula region.
In a detailed study of the ferroplasm, such properties were recorded that would allow a microorganism with similar characteristics to live in the conditions of the primary atmosphere, which supposedly existed four billion years ago:
- ferroplasm does not have a rigid cell wall;
- lives in water with very high acidity, which practically does not occur under ordinary earthly conditions;
- an autotroph that synthesizes organic matter from carbon dioxide (one of the main components of the primary atmosphere), while not the energy of the sun is used for synthesis, but the energy of the oxidation of iron, with which the waters of the primary ocean were overflowing;
- ferroplasm synthesizes proteins that differ from protein molecules known to science by a very high level of metal content (the very first and most ancient catalysts), these proteins even received a special name - metalloproteins.
Researchers believe that the features of ferroplasm are miraculously preserved echoes of the first stages of the formation of organic life, which took place billions of years ago.
Utility use
No matter how great a person's craving for an abstract knowledge of the world, reality almost always returns him to the need to use the acquired knowledge with specific practical benefits for society.
Modern society, inspired by the discoveries of microbiologists, wants to get new tools in solving the main problems of mankind:
- providing cheap food;
- prevention and treatment of diseases;
- creation of synthetic organic materials of different levels of complexity, including those for the purposes of organ implantation, as well as for the purpose of treatment;
- creation of artificial intelligence;
- solution of environmental problems.
Modern bacteria, which are being studied for the purpose of treating a person, feeding him and cleaning up his waste products, have nothing to do with the first bacteria that lived on Earth.
For example, today the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which has infected more than half of the world's population and is the cause of gastric and duodenal ulcers, is being actively studied.
In search of tools for the treatment of this ailment, biologists worked out a hypothesis according to which the first people at one time were infected with this bacterium from animals. However, recent data have shown that it was the man who became the first reservoir for the life of Helicobacter pylori. Further infection of animals occurred as a result of contact of the latter with humans.
This information is of great value for the treatment of ulcers, because, understanding the evolutionary path of ulcerative bacteria, it is much easier to develop a comprehensive treatment and preventive measures.
In addition to studying live bacterial cultures, microbiologists and pharmacists are trying to create artificial microorganisms that can also solve the problems of diagnosing and treating human diseases.
Today, the ability of artificial bacteria created on the basis of a common E. coli to diagnose cancer and diabetes is being explored. Detection of these diseases in the early stages helps to achieve high results in treatment.
However, one must understand that an artificial bacterium is not a microorganism created from synthetic materials. A synthetic bacterium is an ordinary bacterium whose genetic code is modified in some way.
So, for example, the same synthetic Escherichia coli, due to an artificial change in DNA, with an increase in blood sugar in a diabetic, begins to produce a fluorescent protein, which, entering the patient's urine, immediately manifests itself in special biochemical tests.
Despite the promise of developments in the field of creating synthetic bacteria necessary for the treatment and diagnosis of humans, these scientific developments are of great danger.
Many public institutions are urging developers of innovations in the creation of artificial bacteria to refuse to patent their developments, since modern science cannot yet answer the question of what will happen if synthetic bacteria become part of the natural bacterial environment of the planet.
And it is almost impossible to track the moment of penetration of artificial bacteria into the natural environment.
Thank you
Table of contents
- What does helicobacter pylori mean (what is the bacterium helicobacter pylori)?
- The history of the discovery of Helicobacter pylori as the culprit of pathological processes in the stomach (gastritis, erosion, gastric ulcer, cancer)
- The microbe Helicobacter pylori as a bacterium adapted to exist in the antrum of the stomach
- Causes of pathology when the bacterium Helicobacter pylori appears in the stomach
- Helicobacter pylori as the cause of the development of stomach ulcers - video
- How is Helicobacter pylori transmitted to humans?
- Which population groups are most likely to be infected?
- How can you get Helicobacter pylori (transmission routes)
- Where does Helicobacter pylori come from (the most important epidemic ways of transferring infection from a sick person to a healthy one)
- How contagious is Helicobacter pylori? What precautions should be taken to avoid family transmission?
- Is co-treatment necessary when one of the family members is positive for Helicobacter pylori?
The site provides reference information for informational purposes only. Diagnosis and treatment of diseases should be carried out under the supervision of a specialist. All drugs have contraindications. Expert advice is required!
What does helicobacter pylori mean (what is the bacterium helicobacter pylori)?
Helicobacter pylori as a bacterial infection
Helicobacter refers to bacteria microscopic organisms lacking a cell nucleus. Bacteria are the oldest form of life and are widely distributed both in the environment (they were found even in the vents of volcanoes) and inside the human body.Many strains of bacteria inhabiting the human body are simply necessary for its existence - they produce many useful substances, such as vitamin K, for example, and protect the surfaces of the epithelium (skin, gastrointestinal tract, airways and urinary tract) from the effects of pathogenic microorganisms.
However, there are also extremely dangerous types of bacteria that cause deadly infectious diseases, such as typhoid fever, cholera, plague, tetanus, gas gangrene, etc. In addition, bacteria are responsible for such formidable complications as wound and hospital infection, peritonitis, septic endocarditis, infectious-toxic shock and sepsis.
At the same time, some researchers published data on bacteria of a characteristic spiral shape found in the mucus of the affected stomach. However, the identified microorganisms, as they say in the scientific community, were poorly cultivated in vitro.
That is, the extracted microbes quickly died in the external environment, since at that time there were no nutrient media suitable for their survival and reproduction. This circumstance became an obstacle to the full study of the discovered spiral bacteria.
Therefore, scientific evidence of the infectious nature of gastritis with high acidity (the so-called gastritis B, or Helicobacter-associated gastritis ), duodenitis and ulcers of the stomach and duodenum were obtained only a century later, when in 1983 Australian scientists Robin Warren and Barry Marshall told the world about a unique find - spiral-shaped bacteria found in the mucous contents of the stomachs of patients with chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer.
This was indeed an outstanding discovery in medicine, since the publications of a hundred years ago were forgotten, and most gastroenterologists associated the development of gastritis and peptic ulcer of the stomach not with the effects of infection, but with such factors as improper diet, stress, consumption of spicy food, genetic predisposition, etc.
It turned out that the detected bacteria belong to a new genus of pathogens, still unknown to medicine, which since 1989 began to be called Helicobacter (Helicobacter), which in Greek means spiral bacteria.
To date, in addition to the causative agent of gastritis, duodenitis and peptic ulcers discovered by Australian researchers - the bacterium Helicobacter pylori (literally translated as a spiral bacterium of the pylorus (final section) of the stomach), several more types of Helicobacter have been discovered, some of which are capable of causing infectious diseases in humans.
Helicobacter pylori bacterium photo
The microbe Helicobacter pylori as a bacterium adapted to exist in the antrum of the stomach
The microbe Helicobacter pylori is mainly found in the gastric pits under the thick protective layer of mucus that lines the inside of the stomach. It maintains a neutral environment with a low oxygen content.There are no competing microbes in Helicobacter pylori, and there are more than enough nutrients in the gastric contents not only to maintain the population size, but also for reproduction.
So the only problem of the gastric bacterium is adaptation to the peculiar environmental conditions and the struggle with the natural defenses of the body.
The spiral shape of Helicobacter pylori and the presence of flagella allows the bacteria to quickly and deftly move in corkscrew movements in gastric juice and mucus, populating new areas.
At the same time, the spiral-shaped bacterium of the stomach secretes an adaptation enzyme - urease, neutralizing hydrochloric acid in the immediate vicinity of Helicobacter pylori. So the bacterium easily overcomes the acidic environment of gastric juice and reaches the mucous layer whole and unharmed.
In addition, Helicobacter pylori secretes substances that allow the microbe to elude the host's immune response. For example, an adaptive enzyme catalase breaks down bactericidal oxygen compounds produced by active neutrophils into harmless substances such as oxygen and water.
Helicobacter is saved from absorption by phagocytes with the help of enzymes that create a sufficient concentration of ammonia around the bacterium, which damages the outer membranes of immune cells responsible for the destruction of "strangers".
Causes of pathology when the bacterium Helicobacter pylori appears in the stomach
Helicobacter pylori causes a pathological process in the mucous membrane of the antrum of the stomach through several mechanisms, such as:
- production of toxic substances and enzymes;
- activation of inflammatory processes;
- changes in the physiological parameters of the stomach.
Increased wear of the surface cells of the epithelium of the stomach leads to the formation of erosions. As clinical studies have shown, it is the strains that produce this cytotoxin that were found in patients with peptic ulcers and gastric carcinoma. In addition, the death of epithelial cells contributes to the increased concentration of ammonia associated with the vital activity of Helicobacter pylori.
The phospholipase enzymes produced by Helicobacter not only violate the integrity of the membranes of epithelial cells, but also significantly reduce the protective functions of gastric mucus, contributing to damage to the surface layers of the epithelium.
Long-term persistence of Helicobacter pylori on the gastric mucosa leads to the development of a chronic inflammatory reaction in the form of an incomplete immune response to the appearance of a genetically foreign agent.
Some inflammatory mediators, such as platelet activating factor, can cause ulceration of the lining of the digestive tract.
The most important factor in the development of pathological processes in the antrum of the stomach and duodenum is an increase in the production of peptide hormone gastrin that increases the secretion of gastric juice.
Changes in the physiology of the stomach are associated with several mechanisms at once:
- Helicobacter pylori secretes adaptive substances that reduce the acidity of gastric mucus. The reduced level of acidity is perceived by the body as a signal of insufficient production of gastric juice. As a result, the level of gastrin and hydrochloric acid rises.
- Inflammatory processes in the antrum of the stomach in themselves lead to increased production of gastrin.
- Normally, gastrin production is suppressed by another peptide hormone. somatostatin. It has been established that the level of somatostatin in patients with Helicobacter pylori is significantly reduced.
Helicobacter pylori as the cause of the development of stomach ulcers - video
How is Helicobacter pylori transmitted to humans?
Epidemiology of Helicobacter pylori infection (in which population groups infection occurs most often)
The highest level of infection of the population with Helicobacter pylori is recorded in developing countries, where the infection rate in preschool children is about 10%, so that the infection rate in the adult population is close to 100%.In civilized countries, the incidence in children is also significantly higher than in adults, but the level of infection with Helicobacter pylori is much lower in all age categories. At the same time, low socioeconomic status remains the most important risk factor for infection.
Since Helicobacter pylori is characterized by a long, often asymptomatic persistence in the body, the level of infection increases with age. According to Marshall, the discoverer of the gastric spiral bacterium, in developed countries, Helicobacter pylori is found in 20% of people over the age of 40, and among people over 60, the percentage of infected increases to 50%.
As recent studies have shown, there are occupational risks of Helicobacter pylori disease. So, for example, gastroenterologists who constantly communicate with patients get sick much more often than representatives of other professions.
How can you get infected with the bacterium Helicobacter pylori (transmission routes)
Helicobacter pylori refers to intestinal infections, which are characterized by the so-called fecal-oral
transmission path. The causative agent of the disease is excreted from the infected organism with feces, while the gateway of infection is the oral cavity, where Helicobacter pylori enters with contaminated food and water.
Intestinal infections that inhabit the initial sections of the gastrointestinal tube also have an additional route of transmission - oral-oral .
So, for example, Helicobacter pylori can be excreted from the affected organism with vomit and saliva. However, this route of transmission is rare and therefore not of great epidemiological significance.
And finally, there is also the so-called iatrogenic(literally called by a doctor) a transmission route when a pathogenic bacterium is transmitted through improperly processed instruments during gastrofibroscopy and other medical procedures. Fortunately, this way of spreading Helicobacteriosis is also not common.
Where does Helicobacter pylori come from (the most important epidemic ways of transferring infection from a sick person to a healthy one)
Like all pathogenic bacteria, Helicobacter pylori is poorly adapted to survive in the environment. Therefore, most of the bacteria released from the infected organism die, failing to find a new host.Helicobacter pylori is best preserved in cold sea and fresh water (they can survive for about two weeks). Therefore, human infection with helicobacteriosis most often occurs when drinking insufficiently disinfected drinking water.
Also, raw vegetables pose a significant epidemiological danger, in cases where they were watered from natural or artificial reservoirs with stagnant water.
Is it possible to get Helicobacter pylori from animals?
Humans are the main source of Helicobacter pylori infection. However, it is possible to get Helicobacteriosis from animals. So, for example, among slaughterhouse workers, infection with Helicobacter pylori is significantly higher than in the general population.From an epidemiological point of view, such animal species as pigs, monkeys, pets - dogs and cats are dangerous from an epidemiological point of view in relation to helicobacteriosis.
Is the stomach bacterium Helicobacter transmitted through kissing?
There is evidence of a fairly good survival rate of Helicobacter pylori in human saliva and plaque, so that Helicobacteriosis can be infected through kisses, as well as gross violations of personal hygiene.So you should explain to children that you can not share fruits and sweets according to the principle "give a bite", "give a lick." Teenage girls should know that sharing lipstick is not only unaesthetic, but also dangerous.
How contagious is Helicobacter pylori? What precautions should be taken to avoid family transmission?
The entrance gate of Helicobacter pylori infection is the oral cavity, therefore, in principle, it is easier to protect yourself from Helicobacter pylori than, for example, from infections transmitted by airborne droplets or contact. Helicobacter pylori is not transmitted through air, touch, handshakes, shared clothing and toys (of course, if they are not chewed). It is enough just to make sure that everything that gets into the mouth meets hygienic standards.
In order not to infect his family, a patient with Helicobacter pylori must adhere to elementary hygiene standards, which, by the way, will not interfere with the prevention of other intestinal infections (washing hands after using the toilet and before touching food, using individual dishes, etc. .).
Unfortunately, most cases of infection in the family are associated with non-compliance with generally accepted rules for maintaining health. So many mothers infect their babies by licking a pacifier, using one spoon for two, and allowing other kinds of cute-looking but far from safe sanitary illiteracy.
Is co-treatment necessary when one of the family members is positive for Helicobacter pylori?
Joint treatment of Helicobacter in the family is necessary only in cases where all family members suffer from signs of this disease. Also, many doctors advise spouses to undergo joint treatment in cases where, after successful eradication of Helicobacter pylori, reinfection has occurred, and there is every reason to believe that re-infection occurred in the family circle.What causes Helicobacter pylori in dogs? How do we know if our pet is contagious?
Helicobacteriosis in humans and animals is distributed in the same way, that is, mainly through contaminated water and food. Of course, it is much more difficult to protect a pet from infection, because sometimes even dogs brought up at home have a habit of chewing objects picked up on a walk, drinking water from puddles, etc. The main symptom of Helicobacter pylori gastritis in dogs and cats is
Diseases of the stomach can be provoked by many factors, from an incorrectly compiled menu to stressful situations. One of the reasons that trigger the development of pathologies in most of all cases is the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. As medical statistics show, the bacterium can become a source of a variety of gastritis, ulcerative pathologies, erosive lesions, polyps, and malignant neoplasms. Considering how great the danger is, one should understand how Helicobacter pylori can become infected.
Where does Helicobacter appear in the body?
Unlike many harmful microorganisms, Helicobacter pylori can perfectly settle down in the pyloric section of the stomach - hence, in fact, the name it received. The bacterium is very widespread, according to scientists, two-thirds of the world's inhabitants are its carriers. But even once in the human body, the pest can live there for quite a long time in a calm state and not cause inconvenience. However, under the influence of certain factors that create a favorable environment for the bacterium, it is activated. The flagella that the microorganism is equipped with help it move in the mucus lining the stomach walls. In this case, the production of urease occurs - this enzyme serves as a neutralizer of hydrochloric acid, which provides favorable conditions for the reproduction of bacteria.
With the vigorous activity of helicobacter pylori, the release of toxins and the dissolution of the protective mucous layer begin, as a result, hydrochloric acid, together with food enzymes, can corrode the membrane to ulcerative formations. This microorganism has a number of not very pleasant features:
- If we consider where the pest comes from, first of all, water should be indicated - in the marine or fresh aquatic environment, the organism is able to survive for about 14 days. Troubles are quite capable of delivering raw vegetables when they were watered with stagnant water from various tanks.
- The microorganism perfectly resists the acidic environment of the stomach, while other viruses mostly die.
- Helicobacter is the main cause of the development of gastric diseases of the duodenum and stomach. During reproduction, the destruction of gastric cells occurs, ulcers and erosive lesions occur, which increases the risk of the formation of cancerous neoplasms.
- It is possible to destroy the infection by taking antimicrobial drugs and substances that regulate the acid level of the stomach. At the same time, even antibiotics can resist bacteria very successfully, often one course of treatment is not enough.
How do they become infected with a bacterium and what is it expressed in
Helicobacter pylori is considered a very contagious organism, it is quite easy to catch this bacterium, and therefore we will consider how Helicobacter pylori is transmitted to a person. There are many ways for bacteria to enter the body, in addition to untreated water and raw vegetables, this can be:
- Saliva and other body secretions Accordingly, it is quite possible to become infected with Helicobacter through a kiss and sexual contact.
- Public catering- the best friend of Helicobacter pylori, the carrier in this case can be dishes, cutlery.
- Babies become infected through pacifiers, rattles or nipples.
- Is Helicobacter transmitted from person to person? when using personal hygiene items, if there are no simple rules for cleanliness.
- The source of the problem can be medical equipment, which the infected patient was previously examined, after which he was not thoroughly processed.
- Another focus of infection is the waste products of a sick patient, it can be vomiting or feces.
The only good news is that the microorganism is not transmitted from person to person through the open air, since it dies upon contact. However, if this danger can be overcome, the bacterium can multiply very quickly in the human body. This causes a number of unpleasant symptoms, including:
- Pain in the stomach area accompanying the feeling of a head, or in cases where a lot of time has passed since the last meal.
- The appearance of heartburn feeling of heaviness in the body after hard and hot dishes were eaten.
- Stomach pain is significantly reduced if you eat warm enveloping food.
- Nausea occurs and there is a rejection of meat or fatty foods.
Such manifestations are characteristic of ulcerative pathologies and gastritis, and they can indicate the presence of helicobacter pylori in the patient's body. However, signs of infection may not appear in all victims, therefore a series of tests is necessary to confirm the diagnosis - breathing tests are performed, a biopsy is taken, a blood test is taken.
How is the treatment carried out
It is quite difficult to treat Helicobacter pylori, the therapeutic methods used should be complex and include antacids, drugs that reduce the level of gastric juice production, and antibiotics. At the same time, the bacterium is resistant to many substances, therefore, antimicrobial drugs often have to be combined, adding proton pump blockers, bismuth to the treatment. Such treatment is effective in approximately 80%. After treatment, tests are prescribed to determine the effectiveness of therapy.
In addition to taking pharmaceuticals, it is mandatory to prescribe a diet, adjust the diet, use traditional medicine recipes to normalize acidity and eliminate pain. With a high level of acidity, flax seed can be used - it is boiled for five minutes and infused for two hours, after which it is filtered and given to the patient before meals with a large spoonful of the remedy.
With low acidity 60 minutes before a meal, drink ½ cup of cabbage juice, an infusion of calamus root. It is prepared by pouring 4 large spoons of the root with 1000 ml of boiled water. The remedy is infused for 30 minutes, filtered and taken before meals for ¼ cup.
The machine itself can only get sick, and even then, if a person intentionally or accidentally introduces a virus into its memory. Moreover, even if there are anti-virus programs, the computer itself is not yet able to turn them on, it still needs a nanny. If help does not arrive in time, the machine will have to go through a kind of "clinical death", after which it will look like a person revived late after a clinical death: all information, all reflexes will be completely lost, and the poor computer will blindly look at the world with an extinct screen until those until the programmer, after spending several hours, enters into his memory new data and new programs, so to speak, a new personality. With a person, of course, everything is a hundred times more complicated: as soon as any virus, bacteria, even just a protein molecule enters the body, the most complex immune defense system immediately turns on automatically - blood cells are activated - macrophages, which begin to actively look for damage and eliminate it, if necessary, including all subsequent links of the immune system - T-lymphocytes - killer cells, helpers, suppressors, B-lymphocytes that produce antibodies; the activity of the bone marrow of the sternum and tubular bones, as well as the spleen - the main hematopoietic organs, the liver, as the producer of the main protein components of the blood, is intensified, and a whole chain reaction begins to systematically destroy the intruding enemy, strictly controlled by the body. With a small number of attackers, internal reserves are enough, the process goes on automatically, and the person himself does not even notice that something has happened. If the attack is massive enough, the answer will be adequate: to accelerate biochemical processes and inhibit the growth of viruses and bacteria, the body temperature rises, blood circulation and respiration are accelerated to optimize the supply of oxygen to damaged areas; all organs and tissues are brought to a state of high alert and much, much more, which can be discussed endlessly. All this is called a normal immune response of the body, and this always happens when any substance that is even slightly similar to a protein is introduced into this body, be it an allergen, a virus, a bacterium or a protozoan. In this case, as a rule, the immune system retains in memory the structure and properties of this molecule or microorganism and, just in case, keeps a certain number of specific “weapons” on hand in case of a repeated attack.
However, at the same time, each person carries within himself billions and trillions of bacteria that help us survive in this raging world, symbiont bacteria, the so-called saprophytes. This is the usual, banal staphylococcus aureus, lactobacilli, bifidobacteria, and a variety of viruses, rickettsia, protozoa, and the most interesting thing is that the immune system simply does not react to them. That is, no way at all! But they do not cause diseases either, helping us to digest food, synthesize some enzymes and nutrients, cleansing our mucous membranes and skin. What kind of strange discrimination? Even the AIDS virus does not instantly destroy the immune system, but simply circulates in the blood for a long time, preparing the ground for itself, and the super-powerful and super-sensitive defense system, capable of reacting to a single foreign molecule, does not see this virus at all! What's happening? Immunity bug? With simultaneous infection with the AIDS virus and a virus, say, influenza, the immune system will react to the influenza virus instantly, but HIV will not notice. Perhaps the roots of this process lie much deeper than it seems at first glance. Let's try to figure it out. But I will start very far.
Back in the 60-70s, the head of the department of histology of the Vinnitsa Medical Institute, Doctor of Science, Professor Pyotr Fedorovich Shamray (in those days, however, he was only an assistant in this department) studied granulation tissue (that is, loose connective tissue, through which wounds heal) and discovered an interesting pattern: in fact, before this study, it was already known that the basis of connective tissue is a cell called a fibrocyte. The progenitor of a fibrocyte is a fibroblast - a large cell with a large nucleus, which is gradually reduced, takes on a spindle shape with a small spindle-shaped nucleus and becomes a fibrocyte. And where did the fibroblast come from - no one knew this. The researcher took a whole series of histological sections from the surface of the emerging granulation tissue at all stages of its development and found the following: first, the walls of the wound are saturated with blood, then the erythrocytes are destroyed, and lymphocytes begin to constrict to the wound surface, their number is steadily growing, they themselves begin to swell, increase in sizes, acquire an ovoid shape with a simultaneous increase in the nucleus and, having passed a series of transitional forms, turn into fibroblasts.
It cannot be said that the scientific community met this work with applause. There were doubts, of course, and the desire was expressed to carry out a few more series of experiments and, if possible, film this process. Filming was difficult; it was necessary to develop a method of how to make the process go in vitro; after all, it is almost impossible to remove a live wound under a microscope for several days. After a long search, the decision came: to carry out this process on a living, plant microporous tissue, namely, on a cut of an elderberry. Unfortunately, death did not allow Petr Fedorovich to complete his research.
Approximately at the same time, the head of the Department of Operative Surgery of the same Vinnitsa Medical Institute, Professor Terentiev Grigory Vasilyevich, developed methods of operations on the pancreas. After one brilliant operation, the experimental dog unexpectedly died. An autopsy showed that death was the result of developed gas gangrene. Everyone got nuts for non-compliance with the rules of asepsis and antisepsis during the operation, but after a while the situation repeated itself. A thorough analysis of what happened and the control experiment confirmed the suspicions that arose: during the operation, a ligature was accidentally applied to an arterial vessel, a violation of the blood supply led to a lack of oxygen supply, which created favorable ground for the growth of anaerobes in the tissue of the gland, in particular the causative agent of gas gangrene. Only one question remained open: where did this pathogen come from, because the pancreas is “protected” by the immune system very carefully - it contains a lot of very aggressive enzymes, and the presence of even a single bacterium in it can lead to disaster, and blood is generally sterile . Where? Experiment after experiment was carried out in the laboratory, the result was the same - gas gangrene. The experiment was complicated: even though there may be single spores somewhere in the pancreas that no one noticed during an architectural examination of the tissue of a healthy gland, they are not actually brought with blood - the artery is tied up, after all! But there are at least two absolutely sterile organs in the body - the brain and the seminal glands - there are definitely no microorganisms there, nature took very good care of ensuring that not the slightest loss of information could occur in the cells of these organs.
In the strictest sterile conditions, the testicle was opened in the experimental animal and the artery was bandaged. The result is gas gangrene. Then they bandaged all the vessels without opening the scrotum. The result - gas gangrene. There was something to think about. Hundreds of studies of both the pancreas and the testicle were carried out, both before and after the ligation, thousands of histological sections were made, many electronograms, but the issue never moved from the dead point. Along the way, one interesting discovery was made: on electron diffraction patterns at different stages of the process, interesting transformations of gas gangrene bacteria were noticed: the bacterium at different periods of time took the form of staphylococcus, diplococcus, rickettsia, even something similar to a virus, took the form of Trichomonas and everything intermediate between them forms. Professor Terentiev on this occasion suggested that the gas gangrene bacterium is the oldest, so to speak, archibacterium, the foremother of all other microorganisms. It is difficult to say how the study would have ended, but Perestroika began, funding ended, and the death of the scientist summed up the ruthless result.
Already now, literally 3-4 years ago, the scientific world was excited by the message that the cause of almost all human diseases lies in Trichomonas, which are found in any pathology in the affected organs, both in infectious, dystrophic, traumatic, and in oncological diseases. At the same time, Trichomonas mimics very well, taking the form of other cells, but most often it is in the blood, disguising itself as a T-lymphocyte, which cannot be distinguished from a real one with a conventional blood test. The route of transmission is from mother to child, and since we are all born mothers, everyone is sick.
And again, quite recently, not more than a year ago, a doctor from Belgorod, L.V. Kozmina, published an interesting study that the main enemy of man is a slime mushroom, like the one that grows on old stumps. It is in its structure that polyps of the stomach, intestines, nasopharynx, uterus, papillomas on the skin, squamous cell carcinoma and other tumors resemble. But the most important thing is not this, but the fact that in the process of its development this fungus goes through several stages of development: in one of them it is Trichomonas of the classical structure, in the other - ureaplasma, in the third - mycoplasma, - pathogens of urinary tract infections.
About 10 years ago, the doctor O.P. Shamray, the son of the previously mentioned Professor P.F. Shamray, while working in Mauritania, published in the WHO Bulletin an interesting study on more than 20 cases of malignant tumors of the foot, the so-called mycete, caused by one of the varieties of the fungus Actinomycetes, treatable with antifungal drugs.
More than a decade ago, Academician Zilber convincingly proved that at least one malignant tumor - chicken sarcoma - is generated by a virus.
I don’t know about you, but for me, all of the above facts gave rise to a number of questions that required an immediate answer, and each answer, in turn, gave reason to think about a number of other questions. The result was a rather interesting theory, crazy enough to be, if not the truth, then at least a tool for further research. Let's start with questions:
Firstly: if such formidable enemies as the gas gangrene bacterium, mycoplasma, ureaplasma, Trichomonas, Actinomycete fungi and slime molds, staphylococci live calmly in the tissues of the human body, then why does the immune system not notice them?
Secondly: if they are not there, then why does gas gangrene appear in the most vital organs after ligation of the arteries?
Thirdly: who is still to blame for the occurrence of tumors - viruses, Trichomonas or fungi?
Fourth: why does the same bacterium of gas gangrene so freely turn into trichomonas, staphylococci, diplococci, rickettsia, viruses?
Fifthly: how and why does the fungus turn into trichomonads, ureaplasmas, mycoplasmas, and trichomonads, in turn, turn into lymphocytes, tumor cells and, most importantly, why does the immune system not react to all this disgrace in any way?
The answer, in my opinion, is obvious: our microorganisms are not alien to us, we create them ourselves, they are particles of the human body, with an identical genetic structure, our own, only unrecognizably changed, reduced cells with their own functions, with their own program of action, Moreover, this action is intended only for the benefit of the mother's body. That is why the immune system does not react to them, for it they are completely their own, just like tumor cells.
An interesting chain is being built: the central cell of all these transformations is a lymphocyte. On the one hand, fibroblast cells are formed from it, which are the progenitors of fibrocytes, the "parents" of the connective tissue, on the other hand, the lymphocyte also gives rise to Trichomonas, which is the mother of the gas gangrene bacteria, fungi, urea- and mycoplasmas and tumor cells. The gas gangrene bacterium, in turn, gives distant "offspring" in the form of staphylococci, streptococci, diplococci, rickettsia and viruses.
It's time to take a breath and ask: dear reader, please don't throw the book into the wastebasket without reading the chapter to the end! I can directly hear the angry voices of microbiologists calling for immediate execution, and I fully understand their irritation: if my own, painfully native staphylococcus aureus suddenly turns from a saprophyte invisible to the immune system into a terrible monster that eats its own maternal, even, rather, paternal organism, then for sure this is some kind of alien staphylococcus, my own, so to speak, child, cannot act so cruelly! And what about viral infections then? After all, these are clearly foreign viruses, introduced by airborne, sexual or injectable way! Yes, not really! Unfortunately, scientists are delicately hushing up the fact that the flu that emerged yesterday in Hong Kong will be in San Francisco tomorrow, and in Moscow, and in Bonn, and in Tyushki. A total pandemic spreads over several days, in extreme cases, weeks. Maybe it's all the fault of the planes that carry the infection around the world? So, as you know, planes do not fly from Tyushki to Hong Kong, and neither yesterday nor today, no one from this village was in Moscow, Bonn, or San Francisco. Who is so sneezed on fellow villagers? Here it is appropriate to recall the famous experiments of Gurvich on the study of the so-called "mitogenetic rays" and the study of "death rays" by V. Kaznacheev. The experiments were extremely simple: in one case, active mitogenesis in ordinary plant cells of an onion placed in water for germination provoked exactly the same mitogenesis in the cells of all bulbs in the line of sight. In another experiment, cultures of bacteria of the same species were placed in sealed containers at some distance from each other, and a culture of a bacteriophage was added to one of them, which began to systematically destroy bacteria. Immediately, bacteria began to die in another container, to which the bacteriophage was not added, and the infection could not be transmitted by airborne droplets, since this container was tightly sealed for reliability. It has been suggested that the death of the bacteria in the second tube was due to some kind of rays emitted by the dying bacteria in the first tube. The same was true for the bulbs. It remained to find out the nature of these rays. They turned out to be ordinary ultraviolet, and when a barrier to UV radiation was placed in the path of radiation, nothing began to happen to either the bacteria or the bulbs. Thus, the wave path of infection was convincingly proven, but, unfortunately, few people paid attention to this, too, these facts did not fit into the scientific paradigm. The airborne mechanism of infection, you see, is somehow more familiar. Of course, a single sneeze from a flu patient in a smoky, unventilated, damp room full of people will cause a local epidemic, but still, not everyone will get sick - remember the first postulate? - a healthy person cannot get sick. And secondly, there must be several reasons for infection: homeostasis disturbances, some hypothermia and a sufficient concentration of the viral agent, sufficient not to penetrate the body, but to achieve the necessary wave effect aimed at reprogramming the cells of an already unhealthy body (remember, for starters movement of sawdust in a magnetic field requires sufficient field strength). And a cardinal change in the program entails biochemical disturbances in the form of a change in genetic information, therefore, ordinary saprophytes, inaccessible to the immune system, become pathogenic, alien and attacked as a result of energy-informational influence. On the other hand, there is already a theory of the emergence of epidemics, which makes the development of the global infectious process dependent on solar activity (again, UV radiation, which changes the genetic program of nucleic acids on a global scale, which causes instant pandemics of the same influenza). In this aspect, the mechanism of infection already flawlessly fits into the canvas of energy-information exchange in nature.
The meticulous reader will once again think and ask: if a person himself produces his killers, then what about the viruses and bacteria found during archaeological excavations in layers formed not only in the pre-human, but even in the pre-animal era? Who made them? There is also an explanation for this: a person in the process of his ontogenesis, individual development, goes through all stages of the evolutionary process: at first these are two germ cells, which are not cells in the full sense, they can rather be compared with a complex RNA virus. When merged, these two defective cells with a half set of DNA form one, already full-fledged, cell structure. A person goes through the stage of a single-celled organism. Then it becomes multicellular, then chordates, fish, amphibian, and so on - up to man. A person becomes an adult and acquires the ability to produce again both ordinary cells of his body and specialized germ cells similar to an RNA virus, that is, a living substance that has occurred in the process of evolution from a simple protein-nucleic molecule, like a virus, is able to independently reproduce the same structures of any degree of complexity. Indeed, no one is surprised that an adult organism is able to create not only muscles and adipose tissue, but also individual living cells that can live and develop in another organism, for example, lymphocytes or spermatozoa; why is his ability to produce for his needs the same staphylococcus or Trichomonas doubtful?
And finally, one more interesting fact concerning cell radiation. Recently, publications have appeared in the press about research by the Institute of Quantum Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the field of energy-information exchange in nuclear DNA, tightly and multilayered "packed" into chromosomes, in particular, about the work of P. Garyaev, who proves that DNA molecules emit coherent laser radiation during all ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum, which are intensively exchanged along the horizontals, verticals, planar and spatial diagonals, and also "talk" with each other in the audio range. Moreover, if electromagnetic radiation forms a stable holographic "matryoshka", consisting of a number of holograms "inserted" into each other, composed of different types of radiation, a kind of drawing, on the basis of which the body builds and repairs its damaged organs and tissues, then acoustic signals are commands to start these processes at the biochemical level. Like it or not, but again we have to admit that "in the beginning was the Word ..."