NEW YORK, Mar 29 (Reuters Health) - Eradicating the ulcer-causing bacteria H. pylori can help halt stomach bleeding in people who take low doses of aspirin to help prevent heart disease, a new study suggests.

However, patients taking a stronger anti-inflammatory drug--known as naproxen--appear to benefit more from a stomach acid-suppressing drug known as omeprazole. The findings are published in the March 29th issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

Both aspirin and naproxen are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), a class of medication that is notorious for causing stomach problems such as bleeding and ulcers in people using the drugs long-term. Such people take the drugs to ward off heart disease, or combat arthritis pain, among other reasons.

While patients are sometimes given stomach acid-suppressing medication, the effect of Helicobacter pylori--the bacterium that causes ulcers--on these patients has not been clear.

In the new study, eliminating H. pylori with antibiotics appeared to be just as effective as omeprazole for preventing bleeding in patients taking aspirin who had experienced stomach problems in the past. However, omeprazole was more effective for patients taking other NSAIDs, according to lead author Dr. Francis K. L. Chan of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and colleagues.

Among the 400 patients in the study, 250 were taking aspirin and 150 were taking naproxen.

Patients on aspirin who were treated for H. pylori had a 2% risk of bleeding while those taking aspirin and omeprazole had about a 1% risk. Among those taking naproxen and anti-H. pylori therapy, 19% suffered bleeding, while 4% of those given omeprazole did, the report indicates.

The results of the study are not surprising because NSAIDs by themselves--without the help of H. pylori--can cause ulcers, explained Dr. David A. Peura of the University of Virginia, a spokesperson for the American Gastroenterology Association.

"So even if you get rid of H. pylori, there is still a risk for ulcers if the patient is taking NSAIDs," he told Reuters Health.

"The people in this study were all high risk for bleeding because they all had ulcers," Peura noted. In general, "people at risk for ulcers should be on some form of acid-suppressing therapy," he added.

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