<P> Peptic ulcer disease had a tremendous effect on morbidity and mortality until the last decades of the 20th century when epidemiological trends started to point to an impressive fall in its incidence . The reason that the rates of peptic ulcer disease decreased is thought to be the development of new effective medication and acid suppressants and rational use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAIDs). </P> <P> John Lykoudis, a general practitioner in Greece, treated people for peptic ulcer disease with antibiotics, beginning in 1958, long before it was commonly recognized that bacteria were a dominant cause for the disease . </P> <P> Helicobacter pylori was identified in 1982 by two Australian scientists, Robin Warren and Barry J. Marshall as a causative factor for ulcers . In their original paper, Warren and Marshall contended that most gastric ulcers and gastritis were caused by colonization with this bacterium, not by stress or spicy food as had been assumed before . </P> <P> The H. pylori hypothesis was initially poorly received, so in an act of self - experimentation Marshall drank a Petri dish containing a culture of organisms extracted from a person with an ulcer and five days later developed gastritis . His symptoms disappeared after two weeks, but he took antibiotics to kill the remaining bacteria at the urging of his wife, since halitosis is one of the symptoms of infection . This experiment was published in 1984 in the Australian Medical Journal and is among the most cited articles from the journal . </P>

A major factor in the development of both gastritis and peptic ulcer disease is
find me the text answering this question