Successful treatment of long-standing iron-deficiency anemia in adults by eradication of Helicobacter pylori

We report two cases of long-standing iron-deficiency anemia in a young man and an elderly woman that improved after eradication of Helicobacter pylori. Neither patient demonstrated any bleeding symptoms nor reported an extremely unbalanced diet. However, H. pylori infection was demonstrated with the urea breath test. After successful eradication of H. pylori, the iron-deficiency anemia dramatically improved in both patients, making it unnecessary to administer ferric medicine for about 20 months. These cases suggest that eradication of H. pylori may be useful in treating some patients with long-standing iron-deficiency anemia.