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Your doctor won't be able to tell by talking to you whether you definitely have H. pylori.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori for short) is one of the bacteria (germs) that can live inside your body. There are some simple tests which can be used to find out if you have H. pylori in your stomach.

• Breath test: In this test, you're given a drink that contains a chemical. In your stomach, H. pylori changes this chemical into a gas. After swallowing the drink, you breathe out into a bag, and a machine tests the air in the bag for the gas. If you have the gas in your breath, it means you have H. pylori.¹
• Blood test: This test looks for certain antibodies in your blood. Antibodies are proteins that your body's immune system makes when you've got an infection.
• Stool test: This test looks for chemicals called antigens made by H. pylori in a sample of your stools. If you have these chemicals in your stools, it means that you are infected with H. pylori. The stool test is quite new, but many more doctors are using it because it's more accurate than a blood test.²

You may have an endoscopy if drugs haven't relieved your symptoms or if your doctor is unsure about what's causing your problem.³ In this test, a thin flexible tube is passed through your mouth down into your stomach. The tube has a camera at its end. This lets your doctor see whether there's anything wrong with your stomach or the part of your gut just below the stomach (your duodenum).

When you have an endoscopy, your doctor can take small samples of tissue from your stomach. This is called a biopsy. Your tissue samples can then be tested for H. pylori.

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment. ©BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2008. All rights reserved.