Reconceptualizing peptic ulcers as a psychosomatic disorder: a new etiological theory resolving a long-standing controversy surrounding Helicobacter pylori (opens in new tab)

In the 1980s, Marshall proposed that peptic ulcers are an infectious disease caused by Helicobacter pylori. However, this etiology has remained controversial in the literature and faces persistent challenges: the bacterium’s ulcerogenic mechanism remains unknown, and eradication does not consistently prevent relapses, particularly in Helicobacter pylori-negative cases. Critically, this prevailing theory struggles to explain 15 major characteristics and 75 (92.6%) of 81 key observations/phenom...