Starting from the extremely positive results recorded in the first period of experimentation of the “Service Pharmacy”, Federfarma Marche – in full agreement with the provincial associations of pharmacy owners in the Marche – has started the identification of over 120 pharmacies that at the regional level will want to provide citizens to carry out the Urea Breath test, which is the most accredited, non-invasive diagnostic method that is carried out in 30 minutes, to identify Helicobacter pylori.
With the non-conditioning support of Alfasigma, one of the main Italian pharmaceutical companies, the Marche pharmacies, the first in Italy in the new service proposal, are committed to providing further, increasingly effective responses to the population, developing an increasingly operational service function and contributing to raising awareness on the importance of prevention and early diagnosis through the distribution of information materials.
Marco Meconi, president of Federfarma Marche, in announcing the new path for pharmacies, recalls that “first of all, the high social value of the diagnosis resulting from the Urea Test should be underlined; it is also a further recognition of the role of the pharmacy at the center of the regional health service, our attention will be particular to the internal areas of the Region and to the most fragile components of the Marche population”.
The symptoms of the infection, when present, are those typical of dyspepsia: pain and/or burning in the upper part of the stomach, sensation of postprandial fullness and/or early satiety3.
According to reports from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), almost 90% of gastric cancers worldwide are attributed to H. pylori infection. In Italy, approximately 15,000 new diagnoses of stomach cancer were estimated in 2023: 9,000 men and 6,000 women with a mortality rate which, compared to the previous year’s data, stands at 9,900 deaths. The SIGE and SIED Guidelines indicate the 13C-Urea Breath Test (Urea Breath Test) as the preferred non-invasive diagnostic method3 and are the ones of choice in medium-risk subjects undergoing mass H. pylori for the prevention of gastric cancer
The test consists of blowing into two test tubes before and after taking the Urea tablet.
In fact, in the presence of H. pylori, the urease produced by it splits 13C urea with the production of ammonia and carbon dioxide 13CO2 which, absorbed, passes into the lungs and is then excreted in the exhaled air. Thus, an increase in breath excretion of 13CO2 after administration of labeled urea will indicate the presence of H. pylori infection.
