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From the Saturday Evening Post Archives

Search For The Cure Continues

Medical sleuth Dr. Barry Marshall tracked down the cause of and cure for peptic ulcers. He may be the next best hope to unravel the mysteries of IBD.

Dr. Barry Marshall

Congratulations to Dr. Barry J. Marshall on winning the 2005 Nobel Prize in medicine!

Once again, persistence pays off! And Post readers were on the cutting edge.

In 1994, The Saturday Evening Post first announced the momentous discovery by two Australian researchers—Drs. Barry Marshall and Robin Warren—that bacteria, not stress, caused the majority of ulcers. The duo faced tremendous resistance against prevailing wisdom and dogma arguing the opposite.

Related Articles From The Post Archives

• The Ulcer Cure From Down Under (May/June 1994)

• Search For The Cure Continues (Sep./Oct. 1994)

• An Odyssey Of Hope And Chronic Illness (Sep./Oct. 1994)

More From The Noble Prize Foundation

• Official release announcing the award

• Video: Announcement of Noble Prize award (15 min.)

• Video: Interview on significance of the discovery (6 min.)

• Audio: Phone interview with Dr. Barry Marshall (4 min.)

Links On The Web

• Official Dr. Barry Marshall's Web site

• Helicobacter Pylori Research Laboratory

• The Helicobacter Foundation

By Cory SerVaas, M.D.

From the September/October 1994 Issue

One of the most innovative young in medicine today was the honored guest at the Third Annual Saturday Evening Ball. By now, scientists the world over are applauding Dr. Barry Marshall for finding the cause of and, better yet, the cure for gastric ulcers.

Dr. Marshall's discovery that the bacterium Helicobacter pylori causes gastritis and gastric ulcers has had a dramatic impact on millions of lives. By taking a prescription of Flagyl, tetracycline, and Pepto-Bismol, more than 80 percent of ulcer patients are cured and freed from a lifetime of taking Tagamet and Zantac. This is great news for the many sufferers of gastritis and stomach ulcers.

Sufferers like Indiana Congressman Dan Burton are eternally grateful to Dr. Marshall for putting an end to years of pain. Speaking at the ball, Dan Burton told how his stomach condition became so severe that eventually he couldn't sleep--and he had tried all the antacid drugs, such as Zantac and Axid.

"Then one of my friends told me about this young whippersnapper scientist named Dr. Barry Marshall," Burton said. At first the regimen sounded a little strange, but Burton recalled that at this point he was willing to try anything. He flew to Dr. Marshall's office and was found to have the Helicobacter pylori. After a regimen of antibiotics and Pepto-Bismol, he is now cured of his painful stomach inflammation. "I eat everything now, and I feel great!" Burton said. His audience burst into applause.

"I'd like Dr. Marshall to get the Nobel Prize for scientific research, and if I have anything to do with it, he'll get it one of these days. . . . I think this man has done a great deal for humanity," Burton said. "Ultimately, he will be perceived as one of the great scientific leaders of our time."

Now that Dr. Marshall has solved the riddle of peptic ulcers, will he turn his attention to other mysterious ailments in his field of gastroenterology? He's being encouraged to tackle Crohn's and ulcerative colitis next.

"Ultimately, we may find that there are simple things--perhaps an infection or something that could be the cause of Crohn's and colitis," Dr. Marshall said. "Obviously, because we don't know the causes of these diseases after so many years, I think we've missed something. Perhaps we should put a new angle on this."

Anyone with gastritis or stomach ulcers should know that there is a breath test for H. pylori. The breath test measures the presence of the bacteria in the stomach by detecting the enzyme urease. The test involves consuming a urea compound and then blowing into a collection bag; next, the sample is analyzed for the bacteria at a lab. Anyone interested in obtaining further information about the investigational breath test and complete details about Dr. Marshall's work can contact the International Research Foundation for Helicobacter and Intestinal Immunology, P.O. Box 7965, Charlottesville, VA 22906-7965, or call 804-977-1594.

The foundation has a packet of materials about Dr. Marshall's research. It is written to inform physicians about the results of various combinations of antibiotics that have been successful in treating Helicobacter pylori. The updated information is mailed to the patient, who can then take it to his or her physician. Anyone wishing to make a donation to the foundation can do so by mailing it to the address listed above.

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