Yogurt Battles Stomach Ulcers

Ivanhoe Broadcast News

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A special kind of yogurt that's already available in stores in Asia could help millions of Americans eat away their stomach ulcers.

The yogurt, which contains an antibody that battles the bacteria that causes most stomach ulcers, had almost vaccine-like effects against gastritis and stomach ulcers in a human clinical trial, according to Japanese scientists.

In the United States alone, 25 million people suffer from stomach ulcers.  Most of these ulcers are caused by over-use of aspirin and/or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or a type of bacteria called H. pylori.  Previous research has shown that H. pylori ulcers can be effectively treated and eliminated with antibiotics and acid suppression, but that's not always an option for millions of people in poverty-stricken areas of the world.

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By harvesting a bacteria-battling antibody from chicken eggs, scientists were able to produce a kind of yogurt that effectively suppressed H. pylori infection in the study's participants who drank two cups a day of the fortified yogurt.

Although the yogurt is less effective than antibiotics for reducing levels of H. pylori, the study's authors said it is a lot easier to take than medicine and can be eaten daily as part of regular dietary routine. The antibody did not affect the yogurt's taste and does not cause any apparent adverse side effects, except for those allergic to eggs and dairy.

SOURCE: Study presented on March 22, 2009 at the 237th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society 

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