Treating the bacteria, Helicobacter pylori, the cause of most stomach ulcers, is now found to be linked to weight gain, in a new research in Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics.

By reviewing data taken from forty-nine studies with data from ten European countries, Japan, the U.S. and Australia, Professor Gerald Holtmann identified a correlation between prevalence rates for H. pylori and obesity.
"The rate of obesity and overweight were inversely and significantly correlated with the prevalence of H. pylori infection," said Professor Holtmann. "The gradual decrease of the H. pylori colonization observed in recent decades could be causally related to the obesity endemic observed in the Western world".
Source-Eurekalert