The Treatment of Bacterial Ulcers
Until recently, people assume that the primary causes for developing peptic ulcers draw a parallel to stress and the habit of eating spicy foods. Contrary to this belief, current studies suggest that these factors may exacerbate the condition, if someone is already suffering from ulcers; however, these are not the sole causes. In fact, these factors are far away from the original causes. Over 90% of the cases, peptic ulcers are a sort of bacterial ulcers, which primarily occur due to an infection caused by a bacterium, called Helicobacter pylori. In this article, we will shed light on the treatment of bacterial ulcers.
Antibiotic Treatment
It may even possible that the persistent stomach discomfort may occur without any possible causes of ulcer. Unless an individual is suffering from any severe symptoms including heavy bleeding or cancer, the doctors usually suggest the individual to go for a blood test in order to investigate whether Helicobacter pylori is present in the system or not. If the blood test confirms the presence of bacterial ulcers, the doctor may recommend using combination of antibiotics and acid-reducing medications. The possible duration of this combination of medications may run for 10-14 days depending on the degree of the problem identified.
Importance of Antibiotic Treatment
There are two primary goals of antibiotic administration while treating bacterial ulcers. Firstly, the use of antibiotics for treating bacterial ulcers ascertains the cure of the ulcer as well as to offer the patients to experience comfort as well. It is quite common to see that people use different antacids or related medicines for a prolonged period of time before they have actually started taking their treatment for Helicobacter pylori. In fact, after receiving their treatment for H. pylori, they may not even need to use the medicines as much for relieving their stomach.
Secondly, if the bacterial ulcers left untreated, it may turn to develop stomach cancer. People over 45 years old, suffering from rectal bleeding, unusual weight loss, jaundice, eating disorder, people who are anemic, who are having family history of stomach cancer or an early experience of peptic ulcer.
Success Factors
The antibiotic treatment for curing bacterial ulcers may not even become successful. It occurs mainly because of two reasons - (1) bacterial resistance and (2) inappropriate administration of medication. While the bacterial resistance may occur if the bacteria become able to resist the antibodies, inappropriate administration of medication arises when the patient does not follow the guidelines to take medications as suggested by the doctor. So the success rate is solely dependent on the appropriate administration of the medication, however, the recurrence is common due to the problem of bacterial resistance. Even if the bacterium is completely eliminated, relapse is still possible.
