The OMED Health Breath Analyzer is the first medical-grade device designed to aid in the at-home diagnosis and monitoring of gastrointestinal conditions such as small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and intestinal methanogen overgrowth (IMO), but did you know there are other well-established breath tests for other conditions already in routine use, such as H. pylori breath tests? 

At-home Helicobacter pylori breath tests

The H. Pylori breath tests are used to detect a particular bacterial infection of the stomach that can cause ulcers, leading to symptoms such as burning pain in your stomach, bloating, weight loss, frequent belching, nausea, and a loss of appetite. The presence of this bacteria in the stomach can also lead to more serious issues such as cancer. In fact, this bacterial infection has been shown through scientific studies to be the strongest risk factor for the development of stomach cancer. H. pylori symptoms include stomach pain, nausea, and a loss of appetite.

The specific type of bacteria identified in this breath test is Helicobacter pylori (H. Pylori), which is commonly found in the stomach. A systematic review in 2018 estimated that 50% of people across the globe on average have H. Pylori in their stomachs. In most people, H. pylori causes no illness or symptoms. However, approximately 17% of people with H. pylori in their stomach will go on to develop an ulcer (1), and between 1 – 3% of people may develop gastric cancer (2), therefore it is important to test whether you have an H. pylori infection if you are experiencing symptoms.  

During the test, a substrate solution containing 13 Carbon Urea (13C-Urea) is ingested, and a sample of breath is collected 30 minutes afterward. Unlike the cells of your stomach, H. pylori can convert urea into ammonia and carbon dioxide which can be measured on breath to test for infection. The treatment of an H. pylori infection is often a combination of at least two different types of antibiotics to ensure that the infection is completely cleared. If there were ulcers present in the stomach usually a medicine such as a proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) is also prescribed to reduce the amount of stomach acid, allowing the ulcers to heal better. the ulcers to heal better. 

The H. pylori breath tests are considered to be one of the gold standard diagnostic tools, due to its high accuracy. The urea breath tests consistently perform better when compared to other available tests for H. pylori (3), which include a stool test, a blood test, and a physical biopsy of ulcers in the stomach. However, these alternative tests are not as tolerable for patients as a breath test – especially considering tissue biopsies that would be gained through an endoscopic procedure.

There are situations where a combination of different H. pylori tests are recommended to be used to complement the shortfalls and strengths of each test to optimize diagnostic performance in a variety of clinical situations. The urea breath test for H. pylori has a strong position in current gastroenterology departments and is already proving to be very clinically useful as a non-invasive alternative to other diagnostic and monitoring tools. 

Beyond H. pylori 

A New Era of Longitudinal Gut Monitoring

While urea breath tests are well established for diagnosing H. pylori, other advanced breath tests measure entirely different metabolic compounds. For example, Hydrogen Methane Breath Tests (HMBTs) are considered the clinical gold standard for identifying Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) and Intestinal Methanogen Overgrowth (IMO).

Historically, HMBTs have been carried out over a single day—either inside a clinic using bulky benchtop equipment, or at home using a collection of mail-in test tubes. Crucially, both of these traditional methods only provide a single, static snapshot in time.

To overcome these limitations, OMED Health has developed a fully released, medical-grade Breath Analyzer—the first handheld device designed to serve as a vital clinical aid in the diagnosis and ongoing management of SIBO and IMO. Rather than being a retail gadget, this technology is exclusively integrated into our clinician-led breath testing kits, distributed and managed entirely through independent healthcare professionals.

The device provides the precise data required to test for SIBO. Instead of navigating these complex gas charts alone, your results sync automatically via the OMED Health App directly to your independent practitioner’s specialist dashboard, giving them immediate access to your data.

As the device is kept at home for 12 weeks for ongoing use, you can capture real-time changes in your hydrogen and methane curves over time. This longitudinal tracking allows your clinician to accurately evaluate your progress, monitor for potential relapse, and build a highly personalized, data-driven management plan.

Please note: The OMED Health Breath Analyzer is specifically engineered to measure hydrogen and methane; it cannot detect H. pylori. If you or your healthcare professional suspect an H. pylori infection, a specialized urea breath test remains necessary.

References

1. Malaty HM. Epidemiology of Helicobacter pylori infection. Best Pract Res Clin Gastroenterol. 2007;21(2):205–14. DOI: 10.1016/j.bpg.2006.10.005
2. Cancer Research UK [Internet]. 2019 [cited 2023 Jul 24]. Does H.pylori cause cancer? Available from: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/infections-eg-hpv-and-cancer/does-hpylori-cause-cancer
3. Patel SK, Pratap CB, Jain AK, Gulati AK, Nath G. Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori: What should be the gold standard? World J Gastroenterol. 2014 Sep 28;20(36):12847–59. DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i36.12847
4. Zamani M, Ebrahimtabar F, Zamani V, Miller WH, Alizadeh-Navaei R, Shokri-Shirvani J, et al. Systematic review with meta-analysis: the worldwide prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2018 Apr;47(7):868–76. DOI: 10.1111/apt.14561
5. Warren JR, Marshall B. Unidentified curved bacilli on gastric epithelium in active chronic gastritis. The Lancet. 1983 Jun 4;321(8336):1273–5. DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(84)91816-6