H Pylori
Breath test, biopsy, urine test, or blood test.
Diagnosis of infection is usually made by checking for dyspeptic symptoms and by tests which can indicate H. pylori infection. One can test noninvasively for H. pylori infection with a blood antibody test, stool antigen test, or with the carbon urea breath test (in which the patient drinks 14C- or 13C-labelled urea, which the bacterium metabolizes, producing labelled carbon dioxide that can be detected in the breath).[40] However, the most reliable method for detecting H. pylori infection is a biopsy check during endoscopy with a rapid urease test, histological examination, and microbial culture. There is also a urine ELISA test with a 96% sensitivity and 79% specificity. None of the test methods are completely failsafe. Even biopsy is dependent on the location of the biopsy. Blood antibody tests, for example, range from 76% to 84% sensitivity. Some drugs can affect H. pylori urease activity and give false negatives with the urea-based tests.[41]
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PAULA(paula-37)
A blood test is usually the first indicator - as the white blood cell for H Pylori is a good indicator if it is present.
If your center does a gastroscopy, they also take biopsies of the stomach wall to see if H Pylori and other factors may be present.
If you're diagnosed or test positive, a breath test is done to see if the bacteria is resident (it produces a gas).
As someone who tested only trace positive on one biopsy out of seven and negative on the blood test, then coming down with a full-tilt infection 3 months post surgery, leading to a bleeding ulcer and hospitalization twice as long as my surgical stay, I HIGHLY recommend you request your test results and if you test even trace positive, ask why you aren't being treated.
The treatment is tough enough on your stomach prior to surgery and even harder on post surgical pouches...