Glaucoma & H. pylori infection - Shorts

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Oct, 2002 by Jule Klotter

According to an article by Aaron W. Jensen, PhD, published in LIFE Enhancement (September 2002), researchers have found a link between the presence of Helicobacter pylon in the gastrointestinal tract and the occurrence of open-angle glaucoma. The bacterium H. pylon lives in the stomach and duodenum linings of about two-thirds of the Earth's population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For most people, the bacterium causes few, if any, problems. In some, however, it causes a range of digestive problems. Most notably, 90% of duodenal ulcers and up to 80% of gastric ulcers result from H. pylori infection..

Dr. Jensen writes that Greek physicians J. Kountouras, N. Mylopoulos, D. Chatzopoulous, and colleagues have found a correlation between H. pylori infection and open-angle glaucoma ("Eradication of Helicobacter pylon may be beneficial in the management of chronic open-angle glaucoma" Arch Intern Med 2002; 162: 1237-44). Over a two-year period, the researchers studied the progression of glaucoma in 41 patients (aged 45-70), who received topical drug treatment only. At the beginning of the study, tissue samples were taken from the stomachs of the glaucoma patients and from 30 age-matched controls without glaucoma. They found H. pylori ia 88% of the glaucoma patients and in 47% of the controls. The 36 glaucoma patients who tested positive for the bacterium were given standard treatment to combat the infection (two antibiotics and a proton pump inhibitor that inhibits acid production). The infection cleared in 30 of the 36 treated patients.

One year later, the researchers found a small, but statistically significant, reduction in intraocular pressure in the H. pylori -free group. (Excessive intraocular pressure can damage the optic nerve and is a major cause of glaucoma.) Eye function had also improved slightly. In contrast, the six patients who were still infected with the bacterium showed no significant change in intraocular pressure, and their eyesight had worsened significantly. The contrast was even more marked upon examination two years after the study had begun; the eyesight of the H. pylori-free group had continued to improve and the vision of the infected group had continued to decline.

Jensen, Aaron W, PhD. Eradicating H. Pylon Infection. LIFE Enhancement 2002 September (available at www.life-enhancement.com)