If you suffer from gut pain and have been
using proton pump inhibitors to control that pain for more than 12 weeks, you
need to read this!
Professor John Cooke, in his paper
published in Circulation in August 2013, showed that long term use can increase
risk for heart disease from it causing low magnesium levels, deficiency in
Vitamin B12 and low calcium levels.
Other studies have also shown long term use of PPIs causing an increase
in bacterial overgrowth in the intestines, particularly C. difficile, increases
the risk of pneumonia, osteoporosis and it increases the risk of gastric
carcinoma!
A study done on 138 hospitalised patients
88 who developed C.difficile infections were on PPIs and 63% of them had no
valid indication for the PPI use!
The worst outcome anyone can get from a
drug is dependence on it. This is shown
for PPIs that on withdrawal without correcting the underlying problem, an
increase in acid production is noted.
Therefore, this is a drug that needs supervision on withdrawal and if
you have been on it for a long time, DO NOT go cold turkey. The underlying pathophysiology needs to be
corrected while maintaining manageable amounts of acid in the stomach.
It is more important that there is an
investigation as to why there is persistent high level of acid in the
stomach. Some diet and lifestyle
modifications could be safer and more natural.
The common foods that trigger overacidity and reflux include, but not
limited to, chocolate, citrus, tomatoes, peppermint, onions, garlic, dense fat
foods, and carbonated drinks. To remove
these foods is a good starting point.
And not eating within 3 hours of sleeping!
If you have been using proton pump
inhibitors to control your over-acidity symptoms, you should work on why you
are overacidic and correct the problem rather than mask the problem. When the red light comes on your car
dashboard, you don’t plaster over the red light and pretend that the light is
not there, so don’t do that to your stomach!
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