One in two people is infected! Bad breath caused by this bacteria is actually a sign of cancer?

Bad breath

It can be called the biggest social killer.

People often cannot smell their own bad breath.

The people around are polite.

Only from

Take a half step back and cover your nose pretending to be careless

Expressing dissatisfaction implicitly

However, bad breath sometimes

It will cause more trouble than social embarrassment

If you have persistent bad breath

It may be a sign of cancer!

Why does bad breath occur?

Beware of Helicobacter pylori!

In social situations, once someone has bad breath, most people may silently comment on it in their hearts - this person doesn't brush his teeth!

Not paying attention to oral hygiene is indeed an important cause of bad breath, but it is far from that simple.

Generally speaking, the causes of bad breath can be divided into two parts: non-disease factors and disease factors.

1. Non-disease factors: mainly temporary bad breath caused by bad hygiene habits and living habits.

2. Disease factors: refers to bad breath caused by body diseases, which can be divided into oral halitosis and non-oral halitosis.

① Oral halitosis:

People who suffer from oral diseases such as caries, gingivitis, periodontitis, oral mucositis, tooth decay, and periodontal disease are prone to bacterial growth in their mouths, causing bad breath.

② Non-oral halitosis:

Other systemic diseases such as digestive system diseases and respiratory system diseases can cause bad odors to be emitted through the mouth or nasal cavity.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease is a major cause of non-oral halitosis. The contents of the digestive tract and digestive juices reflux into the esophagus, damaging the esophageal mucosa. Anaerobic and facultative anaerobic bacteria multiply to produce odor, causing halitosis.

It is particularly noteworthy that bad breath is also closely related to Helicobacter pylori infection .

1 in 2 people is infected!

What is the origin of Helicobacter pylori?

Helicobacter pylori is a bacterium that parasitizes in the stomach. It can cause inflammation by adhering to the gastric mucosa and cell spaces.

In June 2023, the Institute of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and other units released the white paper "Prevention and Control of Helicobacter pylori Infection in China", pointing out that **the infection rate of Helicobacter pylori in my country is nearly 50%, **which means that nearly 700 million people in my country are infected with Helicobacter pylori.

Under the action of gastric acid, most bacteria will be killed, but Helicobacter pylori can decompose urea to produce ammonia to neutralize gastric acid and create a comfortable living environment for itself. The ammonia and volatile sulfides produced by Helicobacter pylori in the stomach will enter the mouth through reflux. In addition, hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan can also be produced, which will damage the gastrointestinal digestion and absorption function and produce smelly gases.

Helicobacter pylori always hides in human saliva, gastrointestinal tract and feces. There are two main ways of transmission:

1. Transmission through oral-oral contact, such as sharing tableware, kissing, etc.

2. Transmission in the form of "feces-oral", such as touching food without washing hands after defecation.

Helicobacter pylori is significantly associated with gastric cancer. A review published in a Nature journal pointed out that Helicobacter pylori infection may be related to nearly 90% of gastric cancer worldwide. Therefore, the World Health Organization calls for the eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection as an important measure to prevent gastric cancer.

Who is more likely to be infected with Helicobacter pylori?

Be careful that if one person gets sick the whole family may be infected!

The "Guidelines for Primary Diagnosis and Treatment of Helicobacter pylori Infection (2019)" points out that there are four risk factors for Helicobacter pylori infection: age, living area, living habits and conditions, and family clustering.

① Age: The infection rate of Helicobacter pylori in people aged 25 is close to 50%, that in people aged 35 is greater than 60%, and that in people aged 70 and above is 80%. Children are at high risk of Helicobacter pylori infection.

② Living area: By region, the infection rate is from high to low in West China, East China, South China, and North China. It turns out that our West China is still the hardest hit area!

③Lifestyle habits and conditions: Frequent consumption of pickled vegetables, drinking unclean water, cooking with vegetable oil, smoking, etc. are positively correlated with Helicobacter pylori infection, while consumption of raw vegetables, drinking tea, and eating garlic are negatively correlated with Helicobacter pylori infection.

④ Family clustering: Helicobacter pylori infection clusters in families. The Helicobacter pylori infection rate of children whose parents are both positive is significantly higher than that of children whose parents are both negative. The Helicobacter pylori infection of children is closely related to their parents. If one spouse is positive for Helicobacter pylori, the positive rate of the other spouse is as high as 78.94%.

If you suspect you are infected with Helicobacter pylori, you can go to the hospital for a 14C or 13C breath test .

What should I do if Helicobacter pylori is detected?

Self-medication is not recommended!

Helicobacter pylori is very easy to develop drug resistance. Once the first sterilization fails, it is likely to develop drug resistance or even produce mutant strains of bacteria, making it increasingly difficult to sterilize again.

my country's "Fifth National Consensus Report on the Treatment of Helicobacter pylori Infection" recommends quadruple therapy as an empirical treatment option for eradicating Helicobacter pylori infection.

Warm reminder: Although the treatment plan for Helicobacter pylori infection has been standardized, self-medication is not recommended. There are many different combinations of antibiotics in the quadruple regimen. Since antibiotics are prescription drugs, the patient's condition and allergy history are different, and the choice of medicine will also be different. It must be selected under the guidance of a professional doctor and pharmacist.

How to prevent Helicobacter pylori infection?

Helicobacter pylori infection has a familial clustering. For the health of yourself and your family, to prevent Helicobacter pylori infection, you should try to do the following in your daily life:

1. Food must be subjected to high temperatures: Helicobacter pylori is not heat-resistant, water must be boiled before drinking, and meat must be cooked before eating.

2. Eat less irritating food: hot pot, barbecue, alcohol, coffee, spicy food, etc. will irritate the gastric mucosa, reduce its resistance, and thus create conditions for the invasion of Helicobacter pylori.

3. It is recommended to separate meals: When dining out, try to separate meals and use serving chopsticks more often. Families with the conditions can have their own chopsticks per person to reduce the risk of infection. If there are infected patients at home, serving chopsticks should be used until they are completely cured.

4. Wash your hands before meals and after defecation: When washing your hands, focus on cleaning the palms, backs of your hands and gaps between your fingertips to avoid giving Helicobacter pylori a chance.

5. No mouth-to-mouth feeding: Be sure to avoid feeding your child mouth-to-mouth.

6. Replace toothbrushes regularly: Do not share toothbrushes and replace toothbrushes every three months.

Life hacks

You who read this article

Is it involuntarily?

Starting to wonder if you have bad breath?

Two methods to teach you how to test yourself!

1. Saliva judgment method: Wash your hands and make sure there is no odor, then lick the back of your hands with your tongue. After the saliva dries, smell it with your nose. If you have bad breath, you can smell an obvious odor.

2. Dental floss judgment method: Put a new dental floss into the gap between the teeth to clean it, then take it out and smell whether the dental floss has any smell. If you smell an obvious odor, it means you have bad breath.

References:

1. ThriftAP, Wenker TN, El-Serag HB. Global burden of gastric cancer: epidemiological trends, risk factors, screening and prevention. Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2023May;20(5):338-349.

Audit Expert

Chen Xiaodong

Outpatient secondary specialist