ANOTHER CAUSE OF HIVES

Report #6209 6/2/94

A paper presented at the most recent meeting of the American Association of Allergy and Immunology showed that some cases of hives are caused by the same germ that causes stomach ulcers.

Hives are itchy red splotches that appear on the skin, last a few minutes or hours, disappear and reappear somewhere else on the skin. This process can last a few days or continue for a lifetime. Hives can be caused by an infection, hidden cancer, auto-immune disease in which the body's own immunity attacks itself or an allergy to a food or drug. Although there are hundreds of known causes, more than 95% of the time, doctors never find the specific cause.

Over the last decade doctors have proved that more than 80% of stomach and intestinal ulcers are caused by infection with a bacterium called helicobacter pylori and these ulcers can be cured by taking appropriate antibiotics for one week. A recent report by Dr. Steven Kagan of Appleton, Wisconsin showed that an immune reaction to helicobacter caused hives and the hives disappeared after the infected person took antibiotic treatment to cure the helicobacter infection that causes stomach ulcers. People who have ulcer symptoms are the ones most likely to have helicobacter as the cause of their hives. If you have a burning in your stomach or chest that gets worse when you're hungry and better when you eat and belching, burping, a sour taste in your mouth, a sore throat, a white coated tongue and an offensive mouth odor, ask your doctor to order a blood test from helicobacter.

By Gabe Mirkin, M.D., for CBS Radio News