Can buying a toothpaste kill Helicobacter pylori?
Xinhua News Agency, Taiyuan, September 28 -
Question: buy toothpaste can kill Helicobacter pylori?
Xinhua News Agency reporters Ma Xiaoyuan, Li Ziwei, Xu Xiong
my country is a country with a high level of Helicobacter pylori infection, and data shows that the adult infection rate is about 50%.
A recent interview with reporters found that "anti-pyloric toothpaste", which claims to be able to inhibit or even kill Helicobacter pylori, is quietly gaining popularity on the Internet.
Is "anti-you toothpaste" really effective?
Consumers complained about being charged "IQ tax"
Zhang Nannan, a citizen of Taiyuan, Shanxi, was found to be infected with Helicobacter pylori during a physical examination. She soon saw a toothpaste claiming to "effectively reduce Helicobacter pylori" on the short video platform.
Out of curiosity, she bought two of them and used them back. As a result, after more than two months of rechecking, her Helicobacter pylori count did not drop, but increased instead.
"It feels like I have paid the'IQ tax'." Zhang Nannan vomited.
The reporter's investigation found that similar "anti-you toothpaste" was sold online.
Entering keywords such as "Helicobacter pylori toothpaste" and "anti-you toothpaste" on a large shopping website will bring out a variety of "anti-you toothpaste" products, with prices ranging from tens to hundreds of yuan.
The reporter noticed that most of these products claim to be able to inhibit, prevent or even kill Helicobacter pylori, and some products have also advertised "effectively kill 99.85% of Helicobacter pylori", "root cause kills pylori", "applicable to the whole family, invalid and retired". Wording.
Many buyers also have high hopes for the efficacy of toothpaste: "I just found the infection, and I hope it will be useful. Don't infect your children."
Such "net celebrity toothpaste" is also very popular offline.
A salesperson of a toothpaste company told reporters: “Similar antibacterial toothpastes have been sold for several years, and now the supply scale can reach more than 10 million in a single month. Recently, a large chain pharmacy has just placed bulk orders. 100,000 or more."
However, the interviewed experts questioned whether such toothpaste can really "anti-you".
Wang Junping, a member of the Chinese Medical Association Digestive Society and director of the Gastroenterology Department of Shanxi Provincial People’s Hospital, said that Helicobacter pylori is mainly colonized in the stomach, and the focus of treatment is to kill bacteria in the stomach, usually using quadruple drugs including two antibiotics. It takes 14 consecutive days to get rid of it. It is not feasible to treat Helicobacter pylori by brushing your teeth alone.
Liao Juan, deputy director of the Department of Gastroenterology, West China Fourth Hospital of Sichuan University, explained that Helicobacter pylori may also colonize oral saliva and dental plaque. Clinically, patients will be recommended to clean their teeth before the eradication of Helicobacter pylori, but even Toothpaste can inhibit Helicobacter pylori in the oral cavity, and it has no effect on Helicobacter pylori in the stomach. The treatment of Helicobacter pylori still requires medicine.
Xiang Jianqiang, director of the China Oral Cleaning and Care Products Industry Association, said that the member units of the association currently do not produce and sell such products. The association believes that whether there is a relationship between Helicobacter pylori in the oral cavity and Helicobacter pylori in the gastrointestinal tract is not scientific. Evidence that even brushing your teeth cannot completely eliminate Helicobacter pylori in the oral cavity.
The association has always been concerned about the negative impact of the false and exaggerated propaganda of the so-called "anti-you toothpaste" on the industry. It has also issued an industry self-discipline statement, requiring member companies to make efficacy claims and advertising in strict accordance with national and industry standards.
Thinking of law to avoid supervision
——Playing supervision "side ball".
The reporter's investigation found that many "anti-you toothpastes" sold online are marked with "machine name" and "medical grade".
The reporter learned from the drug regulatory department that according to the newly implemented "Regulations on Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics" this year, toothpaste should be managed in accordance with the regulations of ordinary cosmetics, that is, according to the "makeup brand", and the "machine brand" products that are filed according to medical devices. It can not be said to be toothpaste, that is, there is no so-called "machine type toothpaste".
Some insiders pointed out that manufacturers not only want to make the products sellable and label toothpaste, but also want consumers to feel that the products are professional and highlight the “machine name”. In addition, the use of “machine name” can also circumvent the advertising law regarding “except for medical, Except for advertisements of medicines and medical devices, any advertisements involving disease treatment functions are prohibited, and medical terms or terms that may confuse the promoted products with medicines and medical devices shall not be used, which is intended to play a regulatory role.
-False propaganda exaggerating the effectiveness.
Liu Zhong, Executive Deputy Secretary-General of Guangdong Cosmetics Society and Associate Professor of the School of Life Science and Technology of Jinan University, said, “Although some toothpastes are only antibacterial toothpastes, they introduce the hazards of Helicobacter pylori on the page. Misleading and association are also not allowed by the new advertising law."
-Create "pyloric anxiety".
The reporter found that in order to sell "anti-you toothpaste" products, many businesses are vigorously promoting the hazards of Helicobacter pylori, calling it "one person infected, the whole family suffers", "the culprit of stomach cancer" and so on.
Some physicians also said that clinically, some patients are induced by toothpaste advertisements to have unnecessary anxiety about Helicobacter pylori.
Liao Juan said that, on the one hand, such publicity can easily mislead consumers, and on the other hand, it may cause people to panic about Helicobacter pylori.
"Although the infection rate of Helicobacter pylori is very high, only about 1% of people may develop gastric cancer, and as long as proper attention is needed to avoid transmission within the family, there is no need to panic too much." In addition, public panic may also lead to the abuse of antibiotics. And abuse, which leads to drug resistance, resulting in treatment difficulties.
Strong supervision is needed and more popular science
In response to the chaos of "anti-you toothpaste" deceiving consumers and evading supervision, the interviewed experts believe that it is necessary to further strengthen industry supervision, standardize advertising behavior, and at the same time increase science popularization to guide consumers to consume scientifically.
The reporter learned that there were some gray areas in the supervision of the toothpaste industry in the past, leading to various chaos. In recent years, the supervision has become stricter. The Regulations on Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics and the Measures for Supervision and Administration of Toothpaste (Draft for Solicitation of Comments) have been released one after another. Provisions are made for the evaluation of the efficacy of toothpaste, the language used for efficacy claims, and related penalties.
Industry insiders suggest that relevant measures should be implemented as soon as possible and urge all localities to implement them.
Professor Wang Sixin, deputy dean and professor of the Institute of Community of Human Destiny, Communication University of China, said that for “anti-you toothpaste”, which involves a large number of people and has certain harmful effects, relevant departments and e-commerce companies should form a linkage mechanism and coordinate governance. Strengthen the monitoring and supervision of relevant advertisements, and promptly detect and deal with violations of laws and regulations to avoid misleading and deceiving consumers.
In addition, Xiang Jianqiang and many other experts and industry insiders pointed out that the reason why "anti-pylor toothpaste" has a market is largely due to the lack of consumer awareness of Helicobacter pylori, and it is necessary to increase the popularization of Helicobacter pylori related knowledge. , To remind consumers to seek medical treatment rationally, consume scientifically, and avoid blind faith.