If you thought it was George Bush that was causing your ulcer, think again. They're actually
caused by stomach bacteria, and two Aussie chaps just won the medicine Nobel for finding it.
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The first Nobel of 2005 goes to
Dr Robin Warren and
Dr Barry Marshall "for their discovery of the bacterium
Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease".
Uncommonly for modern science Nobels which tend to have a heavy concentration of American winners (or at least scientists who worked in America), both Warren, 68, and Marshall, 54, have spent the bulk of their working lives in their native Australia.
They discovered
H. pylori in 1982. According to Wikipedia:
Warren and Marshall contended that most stomach ulcers and gastritis were caused by colonization with this bacterium, not by stress or spicy food as had been assumed before." The BBC story linked above has further details of their research.
The Nobel committee's
Press Release on their win.