Did you know ulcers are not just caused by stress? It used to be thought stress was the only cause of ulcers, but research has now identified a specific bacterial strain called helicobacter pylori as a common cause. The key is to figure out why the bacteria has infected the stomach lining. Functional medicine can help to provide these answers.
Specific food sensitivities can create irritation of the stomach lining allowing this bacterium to invade. This is the biggest reason we do a Food Safe 190 test to look for what foods could be irritating the stomach lining. Identifying these can be a big deal in fixing the problem long-term.
The second test is a comprehensive digestive stool analysis which can identify if helicobacter pylori is the problem. We can also identify if any other strains of bacteria are overgrown and see where the levels of “good,” friendly bacteria are at. Many times, one of the root issues is there is an imbalance between the good, friendly bacteria and the bad, unfriendly bacteria. This imbalance can allow the bad bacteria to invade the stomach lining.
Eliminating the foods that are irritating the digestive system, balancing the good and bad bacteria, and then eradicating the helicobacter pylori if it is present are the keys to treating ulcers for long-term success. Just treating with antibiotics alone will also destroy the beneficial bacteria and then the bad bacteria many times grows back. It is a decent short-term strategy but not always an effective long-term strategy. Functional medicine finds and treats the root cause.
For a more detailed dive into the topic of ulcers listen to our podcast, Treat the Cause, on Spotify.