Abstract
In 2009, the Japanese Society for Helicobacter Research recommended that all patients infected with H. pylori should be given “Recommendation Grade A” for eradication therapy, stating “There is strong scientific evidence to suggest that eradication should be recommended even in cases where H. pylori infection is not concomitant with specific diseases”.
According to recent figures published by the National Cancer Institute, some 30-50％ of the entire Japanese population are carriers of H. pylori, and cancers (including sarcomas) occur in 1-2％ of them. In other words, more than 1.2 million people all over Japan are exposed to the risk for gastric cancer or gastric lymphoma caused by H. pylori. H. pylori is also involved in a wide variety of other diseases. But while H. pylori is without doubt “bad bacteria”, we can almost definite and easily reduce their risks if we want to. Without eradication therapy, however, not only will people continue to be infected throughout their lives and succumb to various diseases, but the infection will also be passed on to our children and grandchildren, mainly via the maternal line. This paper gives a commentary based on available evidence, from the point of view that “H. pylori must be eradicated”.
