Do Helicobacter pylori infection and NSAID usage interact to increase the risk of peptic ulcer bleeding in elderly patients?
Both H. pylori infection and NSAID use independently increase the risk of peptic ulcer bleeding in the elderly, but their combined effect is not synergistic.
BACKGROUND: Most ulcers are caused, one can deduce, by Helicobacter pylori or by use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Whether both together are worse than one alone is something that is quite unknown. AIM: To study both factors in order to see wither they interact together positively. METHOD: A case control study of ulcer bleeding in elderly patients chosen without weeding. RESULTS: NSAID usage increased risk substantially. So did H pylori infection (but relative risk less than three). Neither seemed to interact. Their actions were discretely intact. CONCLUSION: H pylori effects ulcer bleeding in an adverse manner but does not make the risk of NSAIDs worse.
Cullen et al. (Wed,) studied this question.