Doctors at the Binh Dan Hospital in HCM City perform the first gastric cancer operation using robots on a 54-year-old male patient last March (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The
caused a common to
develop , experts said at a recent conference on digestion
held by Bach Mai Hospital and the Japanese in Hanoi.
A
recent study in Hanoi showed that about 70 percent of Vietnamese are infected
with H. pylori (Helicobacter pylori), a type of
bacteria that can increase the risk of cancer, especially gastric cancer. The
bacteria were also found in 90 percent of patients with gastritis in Ho Chi Minh
City, according to research.
At
the conference, experts said it is essential to eliminate the bacteria in
patients with stomach and duodenum ulcers to reduce the risks of medical
complications, such as gastrointestinal bleeding and perforation and gastric
cancer.
They
also noted that it is a relatively common type of bacteria that can be found in
50 percent of the world’s total population, and only 1 to 3 percent of those
infected will have cancer, depending on their genes and the bacteria’s toxins.
Although
infection with H. pylori is not life-threatening, treating it
in Vietnam has become more difficult due to patients’ overuse of antibiotics
and non-compliance with prescribed antibiotic instructions, said Dr Vu Truong
Khanh, head of the Department of Digestion at Bach Mai Hospital.
“Their
improper use of antibiotics has led to high rates of antibiotic resistance,” he
said. “Some types of antibiotics that worked on 90 percent of H. pylori patients in some
countries are only effective to 50 to 60 percent of those patients in Vietnam.”
Stress
and imbalanced diets create changes in the human body that facilitate the
activities of these bacteria, leading to the secretion of substances that can
cause gastric mucosal congestion, he said.
H.
pylori infected patients should avoid eating
sour, spicy foods and raw vegetables—these can create favourable living
environments for the bacteria—use turmeric products for their anticancer
effects and only drink purified water, he said.
An
average of 3,000 cirrhosis patients receive inpatient treatment at the Bach Mai
Hospital due to excessive consumption of alcohol each year, which is an
alarming change from a decade ago when cirrhosis was mostly caused by viral
infections, Khanh said.
Liver
cancer is the second-most common type of cancer in both genders in Vietnam,
after lung cancer, according to official statistics, and the death rate is 23.7
percent.
Liver
failure is another pressing issue, caused by excessive alcohol consumption,
smoking, and continuous use of medications such as paracetamol (used to treat pain and fever), halothane (a general anesthetic), and nonsteroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs, according to statistics. An average of 50 to 90 percent
of patients with acute liver failure die if not treated properly and not receiving
liver transplants.
Eating
vegetables, fresh fruits and herbs to provide vitamins and antioxidants for the
body is one way to protect the liver, doctors said.
Excessive
alcohol consumption, smoking and processed foods should be avoided, while daily
physical exercises and periodical medical examination are encouraged, they
said.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
