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This story seems to have at least the air of exaggeration around it. See http://www.csicop.org/si/show/bacteria_ulcers_and_ostracism_... for the history around the adoption of H. Pylori hypothesis.



There is nonsense in the above article:

"Perhaps more important was that the subject, who was none other than Marshall himself, failed to develop an ulcer. Note also that the disease resolved without treatment."

This story suggest that he didn't get an ulcer (but he did get all the first symptoms) and that he didn't treat it with (antibiotics) which he did and which eventually cured his own symptoms (and nearly cost him his marriage as his wife left him shortly after doing this).

http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/E/8270/22025/189048.htm...

"As with many tales of dedicated discoverers, you marvel at the tolerance of the family. When Marshall conducted his experiment on himself, he and his wife Ariadne, a psychologist, had four children aged between 10 and 3. He didn't inform Ariadne, or any of his colleagues, about what he was doing, mainly because he knew they'd object.

“I'm a selfish so-and-so”

“A few days after taking the bacteria I began to feel this heavy fullness after eating, and then on day five the vomiting started. One of the reasons I didn't tell my wife about it was that she had whiplash from a car accident. There was a lot of chaos in the family and in the middle of this each morning I would wake before dawn and run to the toilet to vomit. I had bad breath and I looked terrible. You have to admit I'm a selfish so-and-so to even go ahead with the experiment.”

Ten days after drinking the bacteria, Marshall had an endoscopy and other tests to show that his previously bug-free stomach was thoroughly infected and that he was showing the same signs as his patients.

“At that point I couldn't restrain myself; I had to tell the wife. She was speechless.” He laughs. “But it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.” She insisted that he took antibiotics to clear up the infection straight away, though Marshall wanted to continue until he had a full-blown ulcer."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/artic...

Also gastronome enteritis and related diseases was responsible for over 5k deaths (globally) -- a week -- during the period it was known but not accepted 1983 - 1997.

http://www.aips.net.au/97.html

"Marshall swallowed a culture of the bacterium. A week later, he began suffering acute symptoms of gastritis, and biopsies revealed that he had developed both infection with H. pylori and severe acute gastritis. Fortunately, the sequel was a successful case of "Physician, heal thyself"!

further:

"At this stage, bismuth subcitrate was commonly used to treat ulcers, although it was uncertain how the drug worked. Marshall surmised that it might kill the H. pylori bacteria, and he subsequently discovered that a combination of bismuth with antibiotics completely eradicated the bacteria. He then set out to test the hypothesis that elimination of H. pylori could result in a permanent cure of gastric ulcer."

"From 1985 to 1987, Warren and Marshall studied the use of antibiotics as treatment for ulcer. Their finding that 80% of patients were permanently cured of their ulcer if H. pylori were eradicated, proved a landmark in clinical gastroenterology practice. It resulted in a complete reassessment of ulcer treatment, and this therapy is now accepted as an essential part of the management of ulcer disease."




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