September 24, 2023
Fifty percent of the world’s population is infected with Helicobacter pylori, which can trigger many gastrointestinal disorders. Although most of the infected people never experience symptoms of disease, there is a risk that some of them may develop a peptic ulcer (approximately 10 to 20% of infected subjects), one quarter (approximately 4.25%) may have serious ulcer complications, while 1 to 2% may progress to gastric cancer. Therefore, the efficient eradication of H. pylori from gastric mucosa is a necessity. Standard treatment is "triple therapy", which consists of two antibiotics and a proton pump inhibitor. Even this therapy is not highly effective because H. pylori has developed significant resistance to antibiotics and it can cause adverse side effects. It was assumed that an essential oil mixture, obtained from species from genera Satureja L.(savory), Origanum L.(oregano) and Thymus L.( thyme) and called the HerbELICO® essential oil mixture, could be useful in H. pylori infection treatment.