Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), previously named
Campylobacter pylori, was first isolated in 1982 from
patients with chronic gastritis or gastric ulcers in
Western Australia. Barry J. Marshall and Robin Warren,
two Australian researchers, have been awarded Nobel
Prize in Physiology or Medicine for this Nobel
discovery.1 It is also linked to the development of
duodenal ulcers and stomach cancer. Helicobacter
pylori is a gram-negative bacterium that colonizes
human stomach and now is an established cause of
chronic superficial gastritis, chronic active gastritis,
peptic ulcer disease and gastric adenocarcinoma. Before
this discovery, it was a belief that stress and lifestyle
factors were the two major causes of peptic ulcer
disease. Marshall and Warren braked that dogma, and it
was soon clear that H. pylori, causes more than 90% of
duodenal ulcers and up to 80% of gastric ulcers. 2