Why do I need a bacterial overgrowth breath test?

[FEELING MUCH BETTER]

Can anyone tell me why my gastro ordered a Bacterial Overgrowth Breath Test? What does it test for? It seems to have no relation to Crohn's whatsoever?

 

[Guest]

he's possibly looking to see if there's any trace of Helicobactor Pylori - a bacterium which is often the cause for stomach ulcers.

 

[Regular Joe]

This is a "new idea" just starting to float around here (courtesy of Cleveland Clinic). A breath test similar to what you're describing is used around here to identify lactose intolerance, which if it returned a positive, would indicate a potential cause of nutrient malabsorbtion. Prior to the breath test, lactose intolerance was a dietary elimination process left in the hands of the patient. ANd we all know that only a mere 30% of patients actually carry out doctor's orders as they are supposed to. I'd say it's just another screening factor in rooting out potential CD symptoms caused by outside controllable diet factors.

 

[D Bergy]

H-Pylori test is the only bacterial test I am aware of that can be done this way. Possibly there are others though.

Dan

 

[Brando]

Check out Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth.

http://www.medicinenet.com/small_intestinal_bacterial_overgrowth/article.htm

 

[Jeff D.]

As others have siad it's to test H. pylori bacteria. They want to rule out bacteria as the cause instead of genetics.

 

[braveheart]

I understand the Bacterial Overgrowth Breathe Test is another metric to measure how bad the bowel is.

When inflamation causes partial obstructions the digestion is slow, and it causes bacterial overgrowth.