A Nobel for a cure

EVERY NOBEL Prize comes with a story. This year's award for medicine would be equally deserving of a prize for drama. Australian scientists Robin Warren and Barry Marshall were cited on Monday for discovering the cause of peptic ulcers -- a treatable cause that the medical establishment had missed.

People with ulcers used to wince through the pain as their friends advised them to lead less stressful lives, since stress was known to cause ulcers. Then science uprooted this bit of knowledge.

In 1979, Warren found a bacterium in patients with inflamed stomachs. In 1982, Warren and Marshall cultivated the bacterium. It was eventually named Helicobacter pylori.

Warren and Marshall pursued the hypothesis that this microscopic culprit caused the inflammation that led, in some people, to ulcers and cancer.

In hindsight the breakthrough is obvious: A ''lifestyle" disease was proven to be an infectious disease. Instead of merely coping with illness, people could be cured with a course of antibiotics. Science had swept away a veil of ignorance, giving relief to millions.

Actual progress was much slower. Scientists dismissed the claim that bacteria could survive in the highly acidic stomach. In 1984, a doctor told The New York Times that the infectious theory probably wouldn't ''pan out."

Warren eventually found that Helicobacter pylori grew under a protective coating of naturally occurring mucus. And offering fast, if not statistical, proof, Marshall swallowed some of the bacteria. When his stomach became inflamed, he cured himself with a bacteria-killing treatment. Biopsies confirmed the flare-up and the eradication of his stomach inflammation.

Scientific minds gradually changed. In 1992, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston said their research showed that nearly all ulcers could be cured by drugs that wiped out the suspect bacteria. In 1994, a National Institutes of Health panel declared that bacteria-killing drugs should be the new standard of care for ulcers.

But rusting ideas lingered. A 1999 survey done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than half of adults still thought stress caused ulcers. Over a quarter were medicating themselves, and half of this group said they had never consulted a doctor.

There are several morals to this Nobel Prize story. The world owes much to researchers who ignore conventional wisdom. Such research deserves public and private support. Science has to keep asking what other diseases are caused by bacteria and not just oft-cited ''stress." And the country needs better, faster ways to turn proven discoveries into life-enhancing treatments.