As for the implanting of future diseases such as cancer, tuberculosis, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Parkinson's, paralysis, blindness, deafness, retardation, low IQ, etc.-such claims are so all-encompassing that they can only be the product of a highly imaginative mind. In fact, millions are alive today who would not be if it were not for vaccines. Millions formerly destined to be plagued by polio walk tall today. Smallpox is extinct, except for the few viruses kept in research laboratories.

Adventists are thinking people who are not deluded by false claims such as those you reiterate in your question. We are publishing this question to show the strange thought patterns that sometimes lie behind what look like mildly different behaviors such as refusing vaccines.

Obviously we need to be aware of the proven side effects and potential hazards of vaccines, but these are shown in scientific studies with statistical probabilities quoted. Weigh these against the proven and potential benefits of vaccination.

We hope all our readers will enjoy the best health possible, and in some situations that may be possible only because of available vaccines.

My doctor tells me that I have an ulcer, and that I also have an infection with a certain bacteria that caused it. He wants to treat me with antibiotics. I thought ulcers were caused by stress. Could you explain to me what really causes ulcers?

It is very interesting that fairly common illnesses are not always clearly and completely understood. For years ulcers have been associated with stress. The commonly heard statement "He doesn't have ulcers, he gives them" illustrates the presumed connection. In reality, the full truth is much more complex. Epidemiologists identified that people with certain blood groups were more liable to peptic ulceration, which underscored a genetic predisposition. It has been known for decades that alcohol is associated with gastric ulcers, and similarly, tobacco usage inhibits the healing of ulcers.

The standard treatment in the mid-twentieth century was the use of antacids and bland diets. Ulcer pain can be so severe that the poor patients would sometimes take an excess of milk and alkali, giving rise to what was called the "milk-alkali syndrome," in which the patient became alkalotic and developed kidney stones. The surgeons tried to do their part in the treatment of ulcers and invented operations such as partial removal of the stomach and its pyloric portion, and vagal nerve interruption to the stomach. Types of surgery were devised to bypass the duodenum, yet at best the results were mediocre. We were taught to offer surgery only to the patient who begged for it.

A major advance came with the development of medicines that could stop the secretion of hydrochloric acid by the stomach. These soon revolutionized ulcer management, but the treatment was more a control than a cure. Nevertheless, surgery became much less utilized and serious complications such as duodenal stenosis with obstruction to gastric emptying much less of a common condition. Today patients can buy these mediators over the counter. A common example is Tagamet.

In 1982, a connection was made between a microorganism called Helicobacter pylori (HP) and ulcers. This bacterium is a rod-shaped spiral organism that lives under the mucus layer of the stomach on the epithelial lining. Researchers soon found that in patients with stomach ulcers there nearly always was Helicobacter pylori to be found.

Further, they found that the organism could be eradicated by using three medications (two antibiotics plus a proton pump inhibitor). Ninety percent of patients will experience healing of an ulcer on this therapy. But studies now show that more than 50 percent of adults over the age of 60 carry the organism.

In September 2001 the New England Journal of Medicine reported that in a group of 1,500 people with stomach problems, some were HP-positive and others negative. In the group who carried HP, 3 percent developed gastric cancer, while those without HP did not. Another report the same year suggested that "reflux esophagitis" was more likely to be associated with an absence of HP than its presence, suggesting some protection by the organism. This certainly complicates the question of what to do with persons who are found to have HP, or even-as a medical doctor-whether to look for it.

The consensus of opinion is that people who have ulcers will usually have HP, and 90 percent will heal if the bacteria are eradicated. In the absence of symptoms, one does not eradicate HP, as some people may benefit from its presence. We suggest you follow your doctor's advice, but hope this helps you understand that things can get complex and seldom are as simple as we would like to imagine.

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Allan R. Handysides, M.B., Ch.B., F.R.C.P. (c), is director of the General Conference Health Ministries Department; Peter N. Landless, M.B., B.Ch., M.Med., F.C.P.(SA), F.A.C.C., is ICPA executive director and associate director of the General Conference Health Ministries Department.