Case Histories of Significant Medical Advances: Eradicating Helicobacter Pylori Infections to Treat Ulcers
22 Pages Posted: 1 Aug 2019 Last revised: 13 Jan 2022
Date Written: May 15, 2021
Abstract
We describe how a chance discovery of bacteria that infect stomach linings completely changed how physicians treat ulcers. Specifically, we chronicle how:
1) two Australian physicians brought the bacterial infection to the world’s attention and challenged the conventional view that stomach acidity caused ulcers;
2) a global community of researchers helped corroborate the Australians’ findings and developed convenient tests and effective treatments; and
3) these tests and treatments were gradually, but not immediately, adopted.
Keywords: Health Care and Treatment, Technological Innovation, Innovation Strategy, Technology Adoption, Collaborative Innovation and Invention, Innovation and Invention, Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms
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