Dyspepsia, also known as indigestion, is a chronic or recurrent pain in the upper abdomen. Dyspepsia symptoms may include bloating, belching, nausea, and heartburn. There are several reasons for the appearance of dyspepsia. These include gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) as well as gastritis, an often painful inflammation of the lining of the stomach. While many times dyspepsia can be treated with antacids and over-the-counter medication, severe cases should be investigated further, in order to discover if there is an underlying H. pylori infection.
There are two distinct types of dyspepsia:
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Functional dyspepsia refers to the dyspepsia that occurs with no identifiable abnormality in the gastroenterological tract but may include H. pylori infection, delayed gastric emptying, and impaired gastric accommodation.
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Organic dyspepsia refers to conditions that have a visible abnormality in the digestive tract.
Typically, individuals with dyspepsia do not have ulcers. These dyspepsia sufferers are said to have non-ulcer dyspepsia. This type of dyspepsia is characterized by recurring or chronic pain in the upper abdominal region. In the majority of cases, non-ulcer dyspepsia symptoms are often triggered by eating. Today, there is a wide variety of treatment options for non-ulcer dyspepsia, but there is unfortunately no consensus regarding the best treatment nor is there definitive agreement on what causes non-ulcer dyspepsia.
A helicobacter pylori test is the only way to determine if these bacteria are causing the dyspepsia. The H. pylori bacteria can only be diagnosed with specific Helicobacter pylori tests, such as the easy, painless and non-invasive BreathID system.
For more information about how the BreathID breath test system is used to detect H. pylori at the point-of-care, please watch a short film on Urea Breath Tests or contact a company representative by completing the contact form.