Serological response to H. pylori proteins linked to risk of colorectal cancer | Hacker News Reader

Serological response to H. pylori proteins linked to risk of colorectal cancer

gastrojournal.org

37 pointsbookofjoe11 comments

H. pylori was first discovered in the stomachs of patients with gastritis and ulcers in 1982 by Drs. Barry Marshall and Robin Warren of Perth, Western Australia. At the time, the conventional thinking was that no bacterium could live in the acid environment of the human stomach. In recognition of their discovery, Marshall and Warren were awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicobacter_pylori

To test this controversial idea, Marshall self-administered the bacterium and developed an ulcer:

Unable to make his case in studies with lab mice (because H. pylori affects only primates) and prohibited from experimenting on people, Marshall grew desperate. Finally he ran an experiment on the only human patient he could ethically recruit: himself. He took some H. pylori from the gut of an ailing patient, stirred it into a broth, and drank it. As the days passed, he developed gastritis, the precursor to an ulcer: He started vomiting, his breath began to stink, and he felt sick and exhausted. Back in the lab, he biopsied his own gut, culturing H. pylori and proving unequivocally that bacteria were the underlying cause of ulcers.

http://discovermagazine.com/2010/mar/07-dr-drank-broth-gave-...

This is the kind of stuff that gives epidemiology research a bad name.

Somewhere between 1% and 22 % ( mean 11% ) increased risk of colorectal cancer in selected subpopulations.

In contrast, 50 grams of processed meat a day increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 18%.

Sounds like someone is desperate to get a publication, and managed to slip one past gullible or equally desperate editors.

> sero-positivity was associated with an 11% increased odds of CRC (OR, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.01–1.22), and this association was particularly strong among African Americans (OR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.08–1.95)

These confidence intervals don't exactly instill confidence... Oh and we cherry picked this subpopulation where the effect is all over the place with a bigger mean.

You're getting downvotes, but that subpop figure is exactly the kind of thing that gets headlines and is disproven the moment someone tries to reproduce it. Why publish it?

I had no idea what Helicobacter pylori was. It's a bacteria that, apparently, lives in the digestive tract of half the world's population.[1]

[1] http://www.cancer.ca/en/prevention-and-screening/reduce-canc...

H. Pylori can also lead to stomach cancer, please get checked if you have acid reflux, as it is treatable and goes away after a course of antibiotics.

Along with many healthy bacteria, no?

Yes, IANAD, but most antiobiotics that treat H. Pylori will also kill gram positive bacteria.

I had h. Pylori. It can also give you stomach ulcers, which was quite painful.

I used to research h. pylori infections. Please finish any antibiotic courses prescribed. Antibiotic-resistant h. pylori sucks and is much more difficult and expensive to treat.

"It's a bacteria that, apparently, lives in the digestive tract of half the world's population."

Surprised by this. But Seems not to be the best of the germs. A nobel price was given due to the discovery of Helicobacter and ulcer disease:

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2005/press-releas...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com