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Helicobacter pylori and Peptic Ulcer Disease
Media Materials for Planners Kit
- Public Service Announcements Scripts (PSAs)
- News Release
- Media Advisory/Alert
- Pitch Letter
- Opinion-editorial Article
Public Service Announcements (PSAs)
[30 seconds]
If you're an ulcer sufferer, it's your turn to celebrate this year. Ulcer Awareness Week, October 6-13, 2003, is spreading the good news that most ulcers are caused by an infection and can be cured for good with antibiotics.
So, don't blame the stress or spicy food. Now is the perfect time to ask your doctor if your ulcer is caused by an infection. Then, get the cure and let the party continue.
This message is brought to you by the Centers for Disease Control and [Your Organization].
[10 seconds]
If your ulcer is caused by an infection, you don't have to carry it into the next century. This Ulcer Awareness Week celebrates the cure instead.
Ask your doctor if your ulcer is caused by an infection, then get the cure and let the party continue.
News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: [Your Name]
[Date]
[Affiliation]
[Telephone number]
CDC and [Your organization] "Celebrate the Cure"
During Ulcer Awareness Week
[City, State] - If you're one of the millions of Americans who suffer from peptic ulcer disease, [Your organization] and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may have some news that could be cause for celebration this August. Across the nation, health officials and other organizations will be observing Ulcer Awareness Week, October 6-13, 2003, by spreading the message that most ulcers are caused by a bacterial infection and can be cured with antibiotics.
According to CDC, 75 percent of Americans are still unaware that an infectious bacterium, Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), is the cause of most ulcers. More importantly to the estimated 25 million Americans who will suffer from an ulcer at some point during their lifetime, this bacterium - and the nine out of 10 ulcers that it causes - can be effectively cured with antibiotic therapy. These little known facts form the momentum for Ulcer Awareness Week.
Contributing to the unnecessary morbidity and estimated $6 billion in annual health care costs associated with the disease, CDC also reports that many ulcer sufferers self-medicate and are not in contact with doctors about their symptoms. In a 1999 survey over a quarter of those surveyed were self-medicating, and more than half of those patients said that they had never consulted a doctor about their symptoms.
"We need to break the costly cycle of pain, relief and relapse in which too many ulcer sufferers find themselves. Our local campaign will communicate that there is now hope for a permanent end to their pain and that they should contact a health professional about their symptoms," says [Your spokesperson's name] with [Organization].
Dr. Mitchell Cohen, director of CDC's Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases adds, "The new treatment is a dramatic medical advance because eliminating H. pylori with antibiotics means that there is a greater than 90 percent chance that the ulcer will be gone for good. Without antibiotic therapy, more than half of ulcer patients experience a relapse within one year."
For years, ulcers were considered a chronic condition caused by stress and spicy foods that had to be endured for a lifetime. In 1994 the National Institutes of Health concluded that most ulcers are caused by H. pylori infection and should be treated as an infectious disease in symptomatic patients. Evidence shows that even patients who have had an ulcer for years could be effectively treated and permanently cured with antibiotics.
The situation is complicated by the enduring, traditional belief that stress and spicy foods are the culprits. CDC research shows that 57 percent of the population still thinks that stress is the main cause of ulcers, while nine percent attribute the cause to spicy foods. This perception is reinforced by the fact that ulcer symptoms may be affected by stress or diet; however, while these may worsen symptoms, they are not the cause.
Today, there are new diagnostic tools and treatments which make H. pylori detection and cure more accessible for ulcer patients. CDC formed a national H. pylori Partnership and began a nationwide public and professional educational campaign, of which Ulcer Awareness Week is a major part, to promote increased ulcer awareness.
Media Advisory/Alert
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: [Your Name]
[Date]
[Affiliation]
[Telephone number]
Media Advisory: Local Chefs Cook Off to Celebrate the Cure for Ulcers
What: A Celebrity "Cook Off" will be held in conjunction with National Ulcer Awareness Week, October 6-13, 2003. Former ulcer patients will be tasting and judging dishes prepared by local chefs from [name restaurants].
The event is being held to "Celebrate the Cure" for ulcer disease, which we now know is caused by an infection, and not by stress or spicy food. For most ulcer sufferers, a two-week course of antibiotic therapy means their ulcer, and the pain it brings, will be gone for good.
Who: The event is being sponsored by [Your organization], with support from [name of contributing local partners].
When: [Date, time]
Where: [Location - address with directions if needed]
Why: Over 25 million Americans will develop a peptic ulcer during their lifetime. The fact that most ulcers are caused by a bacterial infection, and not by stress or spicy foods, is great news for them because it means that their ulcer can be cured for good. Yet 75 percent of people are unaware of the bacterial cause, and thousands of ulcer patients continue to suffer unnecessarily. Ulcer Awareness Week is a new national health observance to promote increased awareness and encourage patients to see a health professional about a cure for their ulcer.
Pitch Letter
[Date] [Name of Journalist]
[Title]
[Affiliation]
[Address]
Dear [Name]: Given the option of putting up with the pain of an illness for many years, or curing it for good with a two week treatment, what would you do? Unfortunately, if you are an ulcer sufferer, the first option is more common - because the majority of patients don't know that most ulcers are caused by an infection and can be cured with antibiotics.
To bridge this awareness gap, I am writing for your help in publicizing information and activities that could be cause for celebration for thousands of ulcer sufferers in [Your state/region/town name]. [Your organization] has launched a campaign during Ulcer Awareness Week October 6-13, 2003, a new national health observance initiated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to make sure the community and ulcer patients hear the good news about a new cure for ulcer disease.
These statistics from CDC illustrate the need for such a campaign, and the potential benefit to individuals and society of changing the way that ulcers are treated:
Over 25 million Americans (approximately one in ten adults) will develop peptic ulcer disease at some point during their lives, the burden of which is an estimated $6 billion in health care costs annually in the U.S.
Nine of 10 peptic ulcers are caused by a bacterial infection Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). In those cases, antibiotic therapy is over 90 percent effective in getting rid of the ulcer for good. Without antibiotic therapy, over half of patients experience a relapse within one year.
The cost of 2-week antibiotic therapy is less than one tenth the cost of symptom management medication, which generally covers 187 days over 15 years.
Yet despite these well-documented facts, about 75 percent of Americans are still unaware that ulcers are caused by a bacterial infection. Most continue to believe that stress and spicy foods are the culprits.
H. pylori and ulcer disease present a fascinating study of how medical science has provided us with the unique challenge of 'unlearning' how we think about certain conditions and illnesses. Once widely considered a chronic condition that had to be managed over a lifetime, we now know that peptic ulcers are an infectious disease causally related to a bacterium that manages to thrive in the hostile digestive environment but can be cured with antibiotics. While there is still much to learn about H. pylori, there is a lot of information that could be relevant to your readers/viewers, for example:
Because most people assume they can not cure their ulcer, many self-medicate with over-the-counter acid reducing medications to manage symptoms and never see a doctor about their symptoms, making it even harder to get the news about the real cause and the new cure for ulcers to them.
Misperceptions surround not only the cause of ulcers, but also who is most at risk. The traditional stereotype of a high-stressed male executive no longer holds true. Women, lower income workers, and minorities are just as likely to be affected.
Prevalence and severity of ulcer disease generally increases with age. While older people are most likely to have ulcers, the first onset of symptoms for many may begin around age 35. The good news for long-term sufferers is that even if they have had their ulcer for years it can still be cured with antibiotics if it is caused by H. pylori.
In addition to these facts, [Your organization] has arranged a number of activities to mark the coming Ulcer Awareness Week that you might find of interest, including:
Ulcer Awareness Health Fair - [Date, hours] at [where, address]. Health professionals will answer questions and give out free materials.
Stomach Pain Seminar - Expert [name, title and affiliation] will give a free seminar on stomach pain for public and patients at [where] on [date] at [time].
Free H. pylori Screening for Ulcer Patients - [Institution name] will be giving free screenings for H. pylori to all patients who have ulcers or have a history of ulcer disease on [dates] at [times].
"Celebrate the Cure" Cook Off - Just because you have an ulcer doesn't mean that you can't enjoy good food ever again. Join some of the best chefs in [town] to watch them cook off for former ulcer patients.
We have a number of experts lined up including [list of names] who could give interviews. I will follow up by telephone soon to see if you are interested in additional information on any of the above story suggestions. In the meantime, please feel free to contact me at [telephone number] if I can be of assistance.
Sincerely,
[Name]
[Title]
Opinion-Editorial Article
Celebrating the Cure for Ulcer Disease
By [Name, Professional Position]
If an illness once thought to be a long-term chronic condition was determined to be a curable infectious disease, you'd think it would be cause for major celebration. This is precisely the case with peptic ulcers, yet the good news about a cure has yet to be fully embraced.
This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the H. pylori Partnership have proclaimed October 7-14 as Ulcer Awareness Week, in an effort to more widely spread the news that most ulcers are caused by a bacterial infection which can be cured with antibiotics.
Peptic ulcer disease is a significant health care problem that affects millions of people and causes a tremendous burden on the health care system. Up to 25 million people will develop an ulcer during their lifetime. In addition to their personal pain and suffering, the disease is estimated to account for $6 billion in health care related costs each year.
The discovery of the ulcer causing bacterium, Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), was made in 1983. Scientific consensus followed in 1994 when an expert panel agreed that nine out of 10 ulcers are caused by H. pylori, and that ulcer patients who have the infection should undergo antibiotic treatment.
Since that time, there have been a number of advances in the diagnosis and treatment of H. pylori infection, resulting in less invasive methods of testing and cure rates as high as 90 percent. In comparison, when ulcer disease is treated with acid suppressing medications alone, there is a greater than 50 percent chance that the ulcer will recur within one year.
According to CDC, despite the dramatic drop in recurrence rates, primary care physicians still reported treating their first time ulcer patients with acid-reducing medications and not antibiotic-based regimens. At a time when studies demonstrate that physicians are frequently prescribing antibiotics unnecessarily, it is ironic that they are being underused for peptic ulcer disease.
CDC research also shows that the public remains largely unaware of the link between the bacteria and ulcer disease. Recently, only one quarter of adults in a national survey correctly identified a bacterial infection as the cause of most ulcers. As a testament to the power of traditional beliefs, most continue to think that stress and diet are the cause. These beliefs appear to be reinforced by the fact that stress and diet may make ulcer symptoms worse - however, they are not the cause.
It becomes clear that if we are to change the way ulcer disease is treated, we must first change the way that it is perceived - from a chronic condition to a curable infectious disease. CDC and [your organization] hope this Ulcer Awareness Week will give ulcer sufferers a reason to celebrate. If you have a history of ulcer disease or think you may have an ulcer, take this time to contact a health professional and ask if an infection could be the real cause of your pain - it may very well be curable!
For information about H. pylori infection and ulcers,
see your health care provider or call toll-free: 1-888-MY-ULCER.