How is Helicobacter pylori diagnosed?
Various tests can detect H. pylori:
1. A breath test can confirm that you have a current H. pylori infection. A sample of your breath is analysed after you take a special drink. Note: prior to this test you should not have taken any antibiotics for at least four weeks. Also, you should not have taken a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) or H2-receptor antagonist medicine for at least two weeks. (These are acid-suppressing medicines.) Also, you should not eat anything for six hours before the test. The reason for these rules is because they can affect the test result.
2. An alternative test is the stool antigen test. In this test you give a pea-sized sample of your faeces (stools) which is tested for H. pylori. Note: prior to this test you should not have taken any antibiotics for at least four weeks. Also, you should not have taken a PPI or H2-receptor antagonist acid-suppressing medicine for at least two weeks.
3. A blood test can detect antibodies to H. pylori. This is sometimes used to confirm that you are, or have been, infected with H. pylori. However, it can take up to a year for this test to become negative once the infection has cleared. So, it is no use to confirm whether treatment has cleared the infection (if this needs to be known). If needed, the breath test or stool antigen test is usually used to check if an infection has cleared following treatment.
4. Sometimes a biopsy (small sample) of the lining of the stomach is taken if you have a gastroscopy (endoscopy). The sample can be tested for H. pylori.
source :
http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Helicob ... h-Pain.htm
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The 4 different types of H. pylori tests
Blood antibody test
A blood test does not 'measure' the bacteria itself - instead it is a check to see whether your body has made antibodies to the H. pylori bacteria. If you have antibodies to H. pylori in your blood, this means that you were definitely been infected in the past.
Blood Tests are only accurate if you have never been on medication for H. pylori. The reason for this is that it is impossible to eradicate H. pylori from your digestive system without any from of treatment.
It is safe to say that if your Blood Test is positive, and you have never been treated, then you are currently infected as well.
However, it is important to know that as soon as you have completed any form of treatment, the results of a Blood test are rendered useless.
--- WARNING ---
A Blood Test does not provide a definitive result
on the actual status of H. pylori.
This is because antibodies remain in the blood
for between 12 to 18 months after the H. pylori
bacterium has been successfully eradicated.
DO NOT USE the results of Blood tests
AFTER you have been treated!
Urea breath test
A urea breath test checks to see if you have H. pylori bacteria in your stomach. It involves using a radioactive carbon atom to detect H. pylori bacteria.
The breath test is not always available and the results are often inconsistent. This a very expensive test, and our research has shown that this is not the best H. pylori test to go for. The inconsistency of the breath test has been proved when running a breath test concurrently with a H. pylori Stool Antigen test on the same patient.
Stomach biopsy test
A small sample (biopsy) is taken from the lining of your stomach and small intestine during an endoscopy. Several different tests may be done on the biopsy sample. Most of these test produce inconsistent results, and depend on the testing facility or laboratory used. This has been proved when running these tests concurrently with a benchmark HPSA test on the same patient.
Stool antigen test
Also known as the HPSA test, this test provides the most conclusive evidence of the presence of H. pylori bacteria. The stool antigen test checks to see if substances that trigger the immune system to fight a H. pylori infection (H. pylori antigens) are present in your feces (stool).
Stool antigen testing may be done to help support a diagnosis of a current H. pylori infection or to determine whether treatment for a H. pylori infection has been successful. We recommend this test after you have been treated - it produces a very accurate result of your H. pylori status.
Clearly the HPSA test is the safest and most accurate of all H. pylori tests.
source :
http://www.ulcer-cure.com/H_Pylori/h-pylori-test.php
