Understanding the Carbon 14 Breath Test

  With the increasing awareness of people’s health, the awareness of disease prevention and control is also getting more and more attention. In recent times, with the increase in the number of 14C medical checkups, we found in the communication and conversation that the demand for 14C-related knowledge among the medical checkup population is relatively strong. Therefore, we will share the 14C-related knowledge with you here, aiming to guide you to establish a healthy lifestyle and pay attention to the harm of H. pylori on the human body, whether it is a healthy population or stomach disease patients should be examined, detected and treated in a timely manner.  A. Awareness of H. pylori (Hp) H. pylori is a bacterium that can cause gastric and duodenal ulcers, chronic gastritis, and even gastric cancer and lymphoma of gastric mucosa-related lymphoid tissue. H. pylori can be transmitted to each other, and if left untreated the infection persists almost for life. Once infected, it increases the risk of ulcers; while eradication of H. pylori accelerates ulcer healing until the disease is cured. The World Health Organization has classified H. pylori as the first carcinogenic factor and a clear risk factor for gastric cancer. Also the presence of H. pylori is a common cause of ulcer recurrence. In 46 rural areas of China survey, the incidence of H. pylori infection is 20-100%, the northern infection rate of 65%, the southern infection rate of 57%, seriously endangering the health of the people.  Second, the main harm of H. pylori investigation found that H. pylori has a strong activity and reproductive capacity, is a serious public health impact of bacteria. Its hazards are: 1, infect other healthy people 2, damage the normal structure and function of the stomach (100%) 3, leading to a decrease in gastric acid or lack of (25%) 4, increase the chance of intestinal infections 5, reduce the absorption of iron and vitamin B12 6, acute and chronic gastritis (70-90%) 7, the development of peptic ulcer (17%) 8, the development of gastric adenocarcinoma (1%-3%) 9, the development of gastric lymphoma 10, the development of Development of gastric lymphoma 10. Development of dyspepsia of unknown origin III. Relevance of Hp to gastrointestinal diseases: 1) Main cause of chronic active gastritis 2) Main factor for the occurrence and recurrence of peptic ulcer 3) Gastroesophageal reflux disease 4) Related to functional dyspepsia 5) Causal factor of gastric mucosal lymphoma IV. -Why are there not so many patients with gastric disease in normal life? That is because: 1. Although the rate of Hp infection in adults is high, the toxicity of infected Hp varies greatly, but Hp may cause obvious clinical symptoms only when it is toxic enough.  2, Studies have found that almost all Hp infected patients have histological lesions of gastritis, while no more than 20% cause significant clinical symptoms.  3, Gastric disease caused by Hp infection in children is often overlooked due to misdiagnosis.  V. Principle Because H. pylori is the only bacterium that can produce large amounts of urease in the human stomach, H. pylori infection can be diagnosed by detecting urease. Urease breaks down urine toxin in the stomach to produce ammonia and carbon dioxide, resulting in a lower concentration of urea and a higher concentration of ammonia. Based on this principle, 14C-labeled urea is taken orally, and if the subject has H. pylori infection, 14C will be decomposed into carbon dioxide and exhaled through blood transport conversion, and the exhaled gas will be examined to determine whether there is H. pylori infection and the degree of infection. It provides a reliable basis for the clinician’s diagnosis and treatment.  VI. Operation Patients in the morning on an empty stomach (or 2 hours after a meal), swallow a 14C urea capsule, after sitting still for 25 minutes, through a disposable plastic exhalation tube, gently blow into a vial with a red indicator for 1-3 minutes, the red color disappears that stops, cap the vial, add scintillation solution when measuring, then measure on the H. pylori tester for 3 minutes, then you can know the patient The size of the UBT value of the patient.  It has the advantages of sensitivity, specificity and accuracy, and can be used for the dynamic detection of H. pylori infection.  2.In vivo drug sensitivity test Can be used for in vivo drug sensitivity test to screen sensitive drugs.  3.Epidemiological investigation Applicable to large-scale epidemiological investigation, with the advantages of simplicity, rapidity, accuracy, safety and economy.  4.It is especially suitable for the following three cases: (1)Barium meal examination for the diagnosis of duodenal ulcer or clinical diagnosis, and it is unknown whether there is H. pylori infection. (2) Gastroscopy diagnosis H. pylori positive gastric or duodenal ulcer or chronic gastritis, after H. pylori treatment, when it is necessary to know whether H. pylori has been eradicated. (3) Those who have obvious manifestations of gastric and duodenal ulcer disease but are accompanied by heart disease, viral hepatitis, acute pharyngitis, and high blood pressure who cannot do gastroscopy, and for the diagnosis and review of those suspected of having gastric ulcer, it is appropriate to do gastroscopic biopsy and gastric fluid analysis.  VIII. Contraindications 1. None (contraindicated for hypersensitivity to this product, but no hypersensitivity to ultra-micro-urea has been found at home and abroad).  2, Precautions: (1) No antibacterial, bismuth, inhibitors and other drugs that have inhibitory effect on HP within one week before the examination.  (2) Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding will reduce the sensitivity of 14C-UBT, but does not change the specificity. Patients with bleeding who are negative for 14C-UBT should be retested five days after the bleeding has stopped.  IX. Mode of transmission: direct and indirect person-to-person contact transmission In developed countries, oral-oral transmission is more likely, and in developing countries, fecal-oral transmission is predominant Therefore, gastric disease with H. pylori infection is known as a contagious gastric disease. The test is favored by the majority of gastric patients and healthy people with medical examinations because of its advantages of accuracy, specificity, rapidity, painlessness, non-invasiveness and non-cross-infection.