Vietnamese people eat and drink together and are susceptible to infection causing stomach cancer

"Common touch" eating habits such as sharing a cup of fish sauce, drinking a glass of wine or sharing a pair of Vietnamese chopsticks . make the spread of HP bacteria cause gastric ulcer and duodenal and stomach cancer .

Associate Professor, PhD, Dr. Bui Huu Hoang, Head of Gastroenterology, Hospital of Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, said HP infection (Helicobacter Pylori) is one of the common infections in humans. According to the World Organization Organization's guide in 2010, the global average HP infection rate is 50%. In developing countries including Vietnam, the prevalence in adults is up to 70%. Up to 90% of gastritis patients have the presence of HP bacteria. This rate in the group of gastro-duodenal ulcer is 75 to 85%, from 80 to 95% of patients with complications due to peptic ulcer - duodenum.

In Vietnam, the rate of gastric ulcer and spill g is increasing, leading in gastrointestinal diseases. The main culprit causing the disease is HP, which is also classified as the first group causing stomach cancer. Currently, stomach cancer ranks second in the 10 most common types of dangerous cancer in our country.

Medical studies show that HP bacteria are abundant in saliva, tartar, gastric mucosa of patients, spread to healthy people mainly through food, saliva, stool, diarrhea. . One of the reasons for the high prevalence of HP in our country is due to the "eating and drinking" habits , sharing a cup, using our chopsticks to pick up food for others, clicking on the common lips. a glass when drinking. This is the way for HP to enter the body as quickly as possible. In addition, the preference for eating and drinking in poorly maintained sidewalks increases the risk of infection with both HP and hepatitis A.

Everyone should practice the habit of maintaining personal hygiene, avoiding eating together.

To prevent disease, doctors recommend that everyone should practice the habit of personal hygiene, avoiding eating together. If conditions permit, use separate meals, especially sauces. If the dish is required to be shared, a clean and conventional spoon should be included. When picking up food, avoid letting the chopsticks touch the rest of the food, grab it quickly and decisively. Do not share drinks or alcohol to ensure hygiene for yourself and others. Practice the habit of washing your hands with soap before eating, not licking saliva when counting money, flipping paper. Limit eating in restaurants, sidewalks .

Dr. Hoang recommends that patients with untreated or untreated HP treatment can lead to stomach cancer complications. Statistics show that 80% of people infected with HP cause asymptomatic chronic gastritis, between 15 and 20% suffer from chronic gastroenteritis or intestinal metaplasia, gastric and duodenal ulcers, only under 1% of acting progress to cancer. This depends on the location of each patient, bacterial toxicity and diet. Eating salty, using a lot of fermentation products, sour salt, smoked meat makes food degenerate, encountering HP bacteria will be easier to develop cancer. Therefore, diets for people infected with HP need to avoid sour and salty foods, so use turmeric with anti-cancer protection properties and heal lesions in stomach ulcers.

Dr. Hoang emphasized HP sterilization regimen in patients with peptic ulcer and ulceration is essential to prevent dangerous complications such as gastrointestinal bleeding, gastric perforation and stomach cancer. Methods to determine the presence of HP depending on each subject: Young people with stomach pain do not need immediate endoscopy, but can use simple measures such as blood tests, breath tests. Older people have long and severe stomach pain that requires endoscopic screening.

Finding a patient positive for HP, the doctor needs to develop a focused treatment regimen. This bacterium lives in the stomach, adapting to good environment so it is difficult to take antibiotics only if it is used. In addition, oral medications that meet the acidic environment in the stomach will be destroyed and reduced. Therefore, HP eradication regimens must at least combine two antibiotics and add strong acid secretion drugs (proton pump inhibitors) to help antibiotics work best.