Why do I have to stop my stomach medication?

Because proton pump inhibitors suppress the bacterium without eliminating it. The test then finds too little urease activity and reports negative while you are still infected. Two weeks off is the standard interval, and you should confirm the pause with the physician rather than simply stopping.

Is the drink radioactive?

No. It uses carbon-13, a stable, naturally occurring isotope that is not radioactive. It is safe in pregnancy and for children.

If it is positive, what happens?

A course of treatment — usually two antibiotics with an acid-suppressing drug, for one to two weeks. A repeat breath test at least four weeks after finishing confirms it worked, and that confirmation matters, because treatment does not always succeed first time.

Would a blood test not be easier?

Easier, but it answers a different question. A blood test finds antibodies, which stay in your blood for years after the bacterium is gone — so it cannot tell a current infection from one treated a decade ago. The breath test detects a live infection.

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Lab and screening · Reviewed by a physician

Helicobacter pylori — breath test

Helicobacter pylori lives in the stomach lining and causes most peptic ulcers, as well as long-term inflammation that raises stomach cancer risk. A breath test detects a live infection, which a blood antibody test cannot — antibodies stay long after the bacterium is gone.

From$350per test

Book an evaluation See how it works

At a glance

Appointment

45minutes

Two breaths, 30 minutes apart.

Sample

Breath

Breath, into a tube.

Result

3–7days

Treatment follows if positive.

Preparation

Fasting, and a drug pause

Fasting, and a medication pause.

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What it looks for

What this test answers.

A test is only worth doing if you know in advance what you would do with each possible answer.

How it works

The bacterium gives itself away.

Helicobacter pylori survives in stomach acid by producing an enzyme called urease, which breaks urea down into ammonia and carbon dioxide. The ammonia neutralises the acid immediately around it. No human cell makes urease, so its presence in your stomach means the bacterium is there.

The test uses that. You swallow a small amount of urea labelled with a harmless non-radioactive carbon isotope. If the bacterium is present, its urease splits the urea and the labelled carbon leaves in the carbon dioxide you breathe out within half an hour. Two breath samples, before and after, are compared. Because it depends on the enzyme being actively made, it detects a live infection — which is exactly what a blood antibody test cannot do, since antibodies persist for years after successful treatment.

Condensation clearing from the inside of a clear glass.

01
The sample
Taken at the clinic, labelled against your file, and sent to an accredited laboratory.
02
The analysis
The laboratory runs the assay and reports the result back to the physician who ordered it.
03
The explanation
You are told the result and what it means for you, whichever way it comes back.

Your visit

One appointment, then the result.

The appointment is short. The part that matters is what happens with the result.

01
First
The review
Your symptoms and, critically, every medication you have taken recently. Acid-suppressing drugs and antibiotics both make this test read falsely negative.
02
Then
The sample
A first breath sample, then a labelled drink, then a second sample thirty minutes later. Nothing is injected.
03
Afterwards
The result
The physician reviews it against your history and tells you what it means and what follows.

Dr. Andrew Gyopar, physician at Clinique Medix.

Who performs it

A physician orders it and reads it.

A result on its own is a number. What makes a test useful is a physician who ordered it for a reason, reads it against the rest of your history, and tells you what it means and what happens next — including when the answer is that nothing needs to happen.

Dr. Andrew Gyopar

General Surgeon, Medical Director

Pricing

The price, agreed before anything starts.

What it costs, and what the figure is counted in. The plan and the price are written down and agreed at your evaluation, before any treatment begins.

From

$350per test

Includes both breath samples and the labelled solution. A confirmatory test after treatment is charged separately.

Ordered and reviewed by Dr. Andrew Gyopar. Laboratory analysis is carried out by an accredited external laboratory.

Prices are before taxes and may change without notice. Results vary from one person to another. A medical evaluation is required before any treatment.

Book an evaluation

Before and after

What to do around your test.

Stop proton pump inhibitors two weeks before
Omeprazole, pantoprazole and the rest. Ask first.
No antibiotics for four weeks before
They suppress the bacterium without clearing it.
Fast for six hours
Nothing to eat or drink but water.
Allow 45 minutes
Two samples, half an hour apart.