Tagamet was introduced when I was a trainee GP or as it is called today, a GP registrar. Before Tagamet and the other anti-ulcer drugs, ulcer patients suffered severely. When antacids were ineffective and a barium meal showed an ulcer, surgery was the next option.

There were procedures such as Vagotomy and pyloroplasty and the scary Bolroth. At the time there was a saying “You are not a successful executive unless you have an ulcer by 35.”

Ranitidine, the second anti-ulcer drug made Glaxo a big player in the Pharmaceutical Industry. Similarly Losec (Omeprazole) , a proton pump inhibitor, changed Astra, the Swedish Drug Company.

These drugs changed the lives of people with dyspepsia. For ulcers and acid reflux surgery became rare. The introduction of fibre optics into medicine meant endoscopies were carries out. Gastroscopies became a routine procedure and biopsies enabled the gastro-enterologists to grade the severily of the condition.

In 1982, the Australian duo and Nobel Prize Winner, Warren and Marshall, discovered a bacteria in the stomach of ulcer patients. The bacteria is Helicobacter pylori. Eradicating this bacteria allowed healing of ulcers. A combination of high dose antibiotics and anti-ulcer drugs for a week or two cured the ulcers.

Today gastric and duodenal ulcers are associated with Helicobacter pylori infection rather than stress, lifestyle or over indulgence.

Dr.Phil Hariram