Eliminating Helicobacter pylori prevents ‘this’, the world’s leading cause of death

A study has shown that Helicobacter pylori eradication treatment, which represents the prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases such as gastric cancer and gastric ulcer, is also effective in preventing coronary artery disease, which is the world’s leading cause of death.

Department of Gastroenterology Bundang Hospital Seoul National University Professor Na-Young Kim’s team (Gastroenterologist Sang-Bin Kim and Professor In-Chang Hwang Department of Cardiology Seoul National University) found that Helicobacter pylori eradication treatment is highly effective in preventing coronary artery disease in men under 65 and women over 65 He said on the 1st that he was doing that.

Our body’s heart beats around 100,000 times a day throughout our lives and is responsible for supplying blood throughout the body. In order to support the massive activity of the heart, the heart muscle itself also needs a lot of oxygen and nutrients.

Coronary arteries are damaged by metabolic diseases such as hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and hypertension, and when arteriosclerosis where cholesterol accumulates on the walls of blood vessels develops and the internal diameter of the blood vessels is significantly narrowed or blocked, it can cause serious heart disease. .

When most of the coronary arteries are blocked and the heart muscle dies, it is called a ‘myocardial infarction’, and when blood flow is blocked and chest pain is felt , it is called ‘angina pectoris’. Coronary artery disease is the second leading cause of death after cancer in Korea and is known to be the most common cause of death worldwide.

Among them, Professor Nayoung Kim’s research team found through a study that Helicobacter pylori eradication treatment contributes to reducing the risk of coronary artery disease.

This study was conducted on 7,608 patients who underwent gastroscopy at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital between 2003 and 2022. The research team followed the cumulative incidence of coronary artery disease in 4,765 Helicobacter pylori infected patients without coronary artery disease who received eradication treatment (n = 3783) and patients who were not deleted (n = 982). There were no differences between the two groups in terms of age, gender, alcohol consumption, smoking status, diabetes, hypertension, and aspirin intake, which allows an accurate comparison.

As a result of the study, it was found that the cumulative incidence of coronary artery disease in men and women in whom Helicobacter pylori was eradicated by eradication treatment was significantly reduced compared to the non-eradicated group. In particular, it was confirmed that this preventive effect was great in men under 65 years of age and in women over 65 years of age.

Regarding these differences between men and women, the research team noted that female hormones (estrogen) strengthen the immune response to infection and dilate blood vessels. The cardiovascular disease prevention effect due to elimination treatment is estimated to be high in men under 65 and women over 65, who have relatively low estrogen levels.

Professor Kim Na-young said, “Helicobacter pylori is well known as a bacterium that causes gastric lesions such as gastric cancer and gastric ulcer. in Korea, have been identified, eradication treatment needs to be actively considered if infection is confirmed,” he said.

The results of this study were recently published in the prestigious international journal ‘Helicobacter’.

Donga.com reporter Kim Hye-rin sinnala8@donga.com