Helicobacter Forums

Hello everyone,

I'm investigating a possible correlation between H. Pylori and my children's inflamed brainstem. My children have an underlying condition called mitochondrial disease MERRF with raged red fiber so their mitochondria are very sensitive to toxins of any kind. Questions I have are:

Does the bacteria, it's bi-products or body chemistry changes reach the brain?
Does Medical Food like PediaSure slow down it's growth?
Can high blood pressure be related either directly or indirectly to an infection with H. Pylori?


Background
In 2008 my family went on vacation from New York City to TN. On our return, 3 to 5 days after our return, our daughter Diamond (8yr old in 2008 small build skinny) woke up with a bad headache. She was very lethargic. We brought her to the Dr. who said something is terribly wrong and to bring her to the emergency room immediately. There, her blood pressure was very high (150/99's even pass 100), she had protein in her urine and she was retaining CO2. She stopped breathing and had to be trached eventually. She also lost her ability to swallow. So a G-tube was placed also. Brainscans showed "changes" in her brain and spots on her brainstem. After being on medical food, zantac, and blood pressure medication for a few months she was able to be weaned off the blood pressure medication and ventilator support only needed at nights.
After nearly a year we were told to take her home let her live her life out at home that she was eventually going to die because they had no clue what was wrong with her. (she wasn't diagnosed with Mito until 2011) When we got her home we started her on colloidal silver and micro plant powder for 2 months. She regained her ability to swallow at month 2. The micro plant powder is a silica based sea creature (like phytoplankton) food supplement with over 7 trace elements and is listed as an ANTI-INFLAMMATORY. There was no more progress and it became expensive. Lost my job with dell because of her illness so couldn't afford the silver (which was not a regular colloidal silver)

After she returned to a mix of eating and g-tube usage her blood pressure slowly crept back up. To this day she still has a trach and G-tube.

Two years ago, from present time, my son Lawrence started getting weak and having low appetite. Failure to thrive and blood pressure went up and he was placed on blood pressure medication (norvasc 5mg and enalapril5mg) this pass june we went on another vacation to the south again and again, with in 3 days of our return home Lawrence woke up with a headache just like Diamond. Emergency room, high blood pressure and high CO2 levels. He stopped breathing correctly and needed to be intubated. (with all the knowledge we had with diamond we were able to explain that their bodies handle sedation meds differently than regular people and to give him a chance to survive and not be trached we needed to remove all meds. They finally agreed and he was ok. But with worst complaints about his stomach. He had an endoscopy done on Oct. 24th and had H. Pylori confirmed on 26th. After administering clymythromycin... ammoxicillin (sorry spelling of this drugs) and bismuth he began to have negative reactions reporting tongue tingly feeling and "bubbles all over" and unusual taste sensations. Burning eye's and double vision. numb toes and stomach ache. low blood pressure. Ringing in the ears dizziness. We brought him to the Dr. who did the endoscopy who said go to ER right away. He tanked. Needed intubation. High blood pressure. I am right now sitting next to his bed side in the ICU. MRI showed inflammation or myopathy of the brain stem with symmetry.

We started him on steriods to get the inflammation down, L argenine and coq10. And emergency blood pressure meds and the home medication. Up until last night it was looking very bad. Right now he's on low vent settings so it's him working the machine/breathing on his own with minimal support.

Can H. Pylori have acerbated the underlying mitochondrial condition over taxing the cells gradually?

Lastly is the below statement correct?

(Speaking on potassium)

When HP (h. Pylori) is happy and growing, it neutralizes your stomach acid by producing ammonia. The ammonia and stomach acid fizz like vinegar and baking soda - thus the bloating. Once the ammonia production outstrips the acid available, it begins to be picked up by the blood and taken to the liver for detox. If the liver's capacity is exceeded, ammonia circulates around the system and into the brain. That is very dangerous, even fatal if it goes on unchecked.

Is that statement true??

Thank you all for any help.

And a special thanks to Alfred Chin Yen Tay, research associate to of Dr. Marshall.

Hi,

I have to admit this is so rare that I have not seen or heard of. However, since more than 50% of the world population is infected with H. pylori, if the ammonia and toxin goes into the brain theory is true, it'll be well known. Because it is not well known, perhaps it is only affecting very rare group of people. I hope there will be other expert here able to help you.



A quick response from Prof. Barry Marshall:

Hp can break down a few grams of urea per day which becomes a problem in people with impaired liver function. Treatment is long term antibiotics such as kanamycin (oral – non absorbed) to cut down gut bacteria.

When HP (h. Pylori) is happy and growing, it neutralizes your stomach acid by producing ammonia. -ok
Ammonia is toxic to cells because it interferes with the TCA/Krebs cycle and energy production is impaired.

The ammonia and stomach acid fizz like vinegar and baking soda - thus the bloating. - incorrect

Once the ammonia production outstrips the acid available, it begins to be picked up by the blood and taken to the liver for detox. -ok
The ammonia is converted back into urea which is harmless.

If the liver's capacity is exceeded, ammonia circulates around the system and into the brain. That is very dangerous, even fatal if it goes on unchecked. -ok

Thank You very much for your help. My children's condition is so rare that their metabolic Dr./Geneticist, Dr. Martin Bialer LIJ, said he couldn't find any other case of children with their type of mitochondrial disease and exhibit high blood pressure.

If you can, if you ever come across any info during your research that would show anything else that this bacteria might expel that would interfere with mitochondria functionality please reach out to me.

Maybe some day my family will visit Australia through Make a Wish Foundation and give you guys a short visit. I know you all are busy but would Love to give our appreciation.

Thank You so much,

Lawrence

Just reviewing the post again. Thank you all again for your help.

My son is home now after all these months. He is trached and gtube. Didn't get an h.pylori test again but I will request it again soon. He's not out of the woods yet. I was unsuccessful in finding a Dr. willing to go far enough into the idea of the h. pylori affecting my kids and making their mitochondrial disease condition worst. But I have gotten my daughter tested, She too is trached as I mentioned above, and she came back positive.

I did a zinc carnocine (sorry spelling) cranberry and liquorish protocol with DMG, turmeric and a product called ACID EASE. (plant enzymes etc.)

One thing we noticed was her terrible bad breath was gone.

Near the end of the 8 week protocol the meds were not given properly. I had to be by my son's side. Family members that were helping out didn't give her the meds as prescribed.

A few days after we stopped the meds she had this real weird bowel movement that I have never saw in my life. It was feces encased in mucus with all sorts of stuff in it. air bubble looking spots and debris. We took pictures of it and I opened up some of the balls and found peas and corn. My wife said she hadn't cooked that kind of food in over a week.

I pray all is well with you all Dr. Marshall and Alfred Chin Yen Tay and team,

Lawrence Foster
Far rockaway NY USA