The two major risk factors of gastric cancer (GC) are Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection and Atrophic gastritis (AG). It is currently possible to diagnose HP gastritis and AG reliably by using serological testing with a marker panel (GastroPanel, Biohit Oyj, Finland) of pepsinogen-I (PGI), pepsinogen-II (PGII), gastrin-17 (G-17) and HP-antibodies. In this short review, the authors make an intro...

BACKGROUND Functional dyspepsia (FD) is characterized by a high prevalence rate and no standard conventional treatments. Alternative therapies, such as herbal formulas, are widely used to treat FD. However, there are inadequate evidences regarding the safety and efficacy of these formulas. Moreover, the mechanisms by which herbal formulas act in the gastrointestinal tract are controversial. In ...

OBJECTIVES An economic evaluation was performed of empirical antisecretory therapy versus test for Helicobacter pylori in the management of dyspepsia patients presenting in primary care. METHODS A randomized trial in 106 general practices in the County of Funen, Denmark, was designed to include prospective collection of clinical outcome measures and resource utilization data. Dyspepsia patien...

Background: Eosinophilic gastritis is a rare chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by an eosinophilic infiltration of various layers from mucosa to serosa in the stomach wall, with peripheral eosinophilia, in the absence of any known cause for eosinophilia. It presents with varying symptoms depending on the layer of the stomach wall involved. Mucosal involvement presents with chronic dysp...

Finding evidence of anisakidosis requires invasive methods. We have developed a serological assay based on the detection of an immunoglobulin E (IgE) specifically directed against Ani s 1 protein, a major parasite allergen of Anisakis simplex, which has shown a high level of accuracy in the diagnosis of anisakidosis. We used this tool to determine the prevalence of anti-Ani s 1 IgE in dyspeptic...

The prevalence of H. pylori infection in 200 dyspeptic patients undergoing upper G.I. endoscopy was investigated by histology and rapid urease test. H. pylori was associated with 86% cases of chronic gastritis, 84.6% cases of duodenal ulcers and 78.5% of gastric ulcers. None of the 15 histologically normal gastric biopsies showed H. pylori.

Many studies have attempted to prove a link between Helicobacter pylori infection and functional dyspepsia but the results have been conflicting. Several mechanisms have been postulated for how H pylori associated inflammation disturbs antral and duodenal function but no pathophysiological explanation of how H pylori may cause dyspeptic symptoms is presently available.

Dyspepsia is a syndrome consisting of epigastric pain, burning, fullness, discomfort, early satiety, nausea, vomiting and belching. Functional dyspepsia (FD) is diagnosed if upper gastrointestinal endoscopy does not show structural abnormality explaining these symptoms. 8%-30% and 8%-23% of Asian people suffer from of uninvestigated dyspepsia and FD, respectively. Most patients with uninvestiga...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the endoscopic findings of dyspeptic patients unresponsive to proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and analyze if there is any correlation between these findings and dyspeptic symptoms via predetermined inquiry. METHODS Patients between 18 and 45 years of age were selected among those referred to our unit for upper GI endoscopy due to failure to achieve improvement in dyspeptic...