It is the only organism on the planet that can live indefinitely in the acidic environment of the human stomach. It is the one major cause of all ulcers, barring those found on the skin, such as leg ulcers and skin ulcers.

It can cause sickness such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. For someone with a weakened immune system, such as small children or the elderly, this can be life threatening.

Everything in the animal kingdom, the plant world and the bacterium world is classified using methods. It begins with Kingdom and ends with Species. Here is the scientific family and classification for Helicobacter pylori: Kingdom (Bacteria), Phylum (Proteobacteria), Class (Epsilon Proteobacteria), Order (Campylobacterales), Genus (Helicobacter) and Species (Helicobacter pylori).

That is quite a mouthful. You probably will never be tested on that so do not worry overly about remembering the details. What you should pay attention to is that it is a bacterium.

Though it is tiny and unicellular, Helicobacter pylori can pack a lethal punch. They are not visible to the naked eye and to detect the presence of H pylori in an ulcer a biopsy must be performed.

Once the stomach ulcer or duodenal ulcer is diagnosed with the bacterium, the doctor can begin treatment to rid the patient of the h pylori infection and clear up the ulcer so that he or she can begin to enjoy life again without the pain. Those bacteria may be tough, but they don't stand a chance against a good antibiotic.

A person infected with pylori must not ignore the facts. It takes a certain medication combination in order to clear up an h pylori infection. The doctors will first make a diagnosis through a fecal test taken during an endoscopic procedure to examine the stomach ulcer. After the test comes back positive for Helicobacter pylori, your doctor will write a prescription for three types of medicines.

Typically, the three medicines are amoxicillin, clarithromycin and a proton pump inhibitor such as pantoprazole. If you are allergic to penicillin, then the doctor will switch out the amoxicillin for metronidazole. It is very important to take all of your medications. You definitely do not want to help this Helicobacter pylori to become antibiotic resistant.