Breath test

This often used test offers a fairly accurate diagnosis of your stomach ulcer. It is non-invasive which is a good thing for more sensitive patient, but it is also very expensive.

It involves using a radioactive carbon atom to detect H. pylori bacteria. What happens is that your first breath is captured and sealed in a small plastic bag. You then have to drink a small glass of liquid containing radioactive carbon as part of a substance (urea) that will be broken down by H. pylori.

Thirty minutes later, a second breath sample is captured. If your second breath sample contain the radioactive carbon in the form of carbon dioxide, then this indicates that you may be infected with H. pylori.

As mentioned, this a very expensive test, and our research has shown that the results can be inconsistent. This has been proved when running a breath test concurrently with an HPSA test on the same patient.

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Blood tests

A blood test checks for the presence of H. pylori antibodies, not for the bacteria itself.

If you have not been treated for H. pylori before, a blood test can be relied on for accurate diagnosis.

A positive result in these circumstances indicates that you are extremely likely to have a current infection, and obviously this means that you will need to start seeking effective treatment.

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Stool antigen test ( HPSA)

This super-accurate test checks to see if substances that trigger the immune system to fight an H. pylori infection (H. pylori antigens) are present in your feces (stool).

This is the only test that delivers an accurate account of your current H. pylori status. If the H. pylori bacteria is NOT detected after treatment, then this is accurate proof that the treatment has been successful. ELISA HPSA test is the most advanced and accurate test available, and is the recognized benchmark test used in this field. It is the only test that provides CONCLUSIVE proof of the presence of H. pylori bacteria.

After extensive research in this field, our view is that the HPSA Test is the least invasive and delivers the most accurate and most conclusive results.