Heart problems and stomach microbe link?

wow, how interesting is this? a heart problem related to a gastric microbe! This is partially why I was somewhat surprised earlier when a study found no tie between heart disease and antibiotics. Stay tuned.

Health News Article | Reuters.com

"NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The gastric microbe, Helicobacter pylori, that's the cause of most stomach ulcers also takes it out on the heart, Italian investigators report.

They found that people with rapid beating of the upper chamber of the heart, atrial fibrillation, are nearly 20 times more likely to be infected with Helicobacter than are healthy "controls," according to a report in the medical journal Heart.

While the exact mechanism is unknown, Dr. A. S. Montenero, from Policlinico Multimedica in Milan, and colleagues theorize that it may relate to autoantibodies that develop in some H. pylori-infected patients. These antibodies, which normally attack an acid pump found on gastric cells, may instead attack a similar pump on cardiac cells, ultimately triggering atrial fibrillation. "