There are two interesting phenomena in outpatient clinics: first, more and more people are asking for H. pylori tests; second, more and more people with positive H. pylori test results are asking for treatment. These two phenomena show that people are increasingly concerned about H. pylori, mainly out of concern for stomach cancer. H. pylori is a special bacterium that lives in the gastric mucosa, with a spiral shape and is a microaerobic bacterium, which is difficult to survive in air or in an absolutely anaerobic environment. It mainly lives in the gastric mucosa tissue, and the small recesses of the stomach are the breeding ground for H. pylori to live. Medical research has found that H. pylori infection is an important risk factor for the development of gastric cancer, and H. pylori is also associated with the development of gastritis, gastroduodenal ulcer, gastric mucosa-associated lymphoma and other diseases. In recent years, the medical community has also discovered different strains of bacteria associated with different gastric diseases. Some people hear hearsay and think that they can find out if it is stomach cancer by blowing two breaths at the hospital, so they blindly visit the clinic and ask for the test. In clinical practice, the breath test is simple and easy to perform with good accuracy, and has become the most common method for clinical examination of H. pylori. However, a negative breath test for H. pylori does not necessarily mean that it is not gastric cancer; while a positive breath test for H. pylori is mostly not gastric cancer either. Therefore, expecting to detect gastric cancer by breath test is to seek a fish out of water. To date, the standard method for early diagnosis of gastric cancer is still gastroscopy. The significance of breath test is to remind people that positive patients are more likely to have gastric disease than normal people; the higher the degree of positivity, the higher the possibility of disease. People who are positive for H. pylori, who have a combination of significant stomach symptoms, or who have a family history of stomach cancer and gastric disease, need to undergo further examination by gastroscopy under the guidance of a doctor. The World Health Organization has identified H. pylori as a Group I carcinogen for gastric cancer. So, does being infected with H. pylori mean that you will develop stomach cancer? In fact, more than 50% of the normal population is infected with H. pylori, especially in developing countries and in areas with poor sanitation. However, most of those infected do not have stomach symptoms and may not develop stomach cancer for the rest of their lives. Studies show that only about 10 percent of people infected with H. pylori develop stomach disease, and the probability of getting stomach cancer is only about 5 in 10,000. At the same time, excessive concern about the risk of H. pylori infection often leads to depression, anxiety and even other somatic behavioral disorders. For most people, the distress of psychological disorders is sometimes more harmful than H. pylori. People with H. pylori infection have a higher incidence of stomach problems than the general population. However, about 50% of people do not have symptoms, and some people show only superficial gastritis or even normal gastroscopy. These people do not need to be cleared of H. pylori. H. pylori clearance should only be considered in infected individuals with the following combined pathologies: chronic atrophic gastritis, peptic ulcer, intestinal epithelial hyperplasia of the gastric mucosa, atypical hyperplasia, family history of gastric cancer, early gastric cancer after surgery or local mucosal debridement. To remove H. pylori, long-term application of acid-suppressive drugs should be avoided because long-term oral administration of such drugs may lead to an increased risk of pancreatic cancer development. In addition, further studies are needed to determine whether eradication of the infection affects the gastrointestinal microecology. For most people, infection can be avoided by practicing a good lifestyle and diet. The route of H. pylori infection is usually intimate kissing, shared eating, and fecal-oral transmission. However, only a certain temperature is needed for H. pylori to be killed. Therefore, the following are recommended: brush your teeth and rinse your mouth regularly every day; use communal chopsticks or share meals at gatherings; wash and disinfect dishes regularly; wash food thoroughly and cook at high temperatures; wash your hands before meals after pooping; and do not feed young children mouth-to-mouth.