Summary
No surprise here: by reducing stomach acid, these antacid drugs create an environment that supports the growth of infectious agents. When they find their way into the lungs, pneumonia may result. It's one more reason to stop using prescription drugs to treat symptoms and, instead, start addressing the core health needs of patients.
Original source:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=18572
Details
-
Researchers from the University of Radboud, Netherlands, have found that gastric-acid suppressive drugs raise the risk of developing pneumonia.
- In a study of 364,000 patients, the researchers concluded that gastric acid suppressive drugs raise pneumonia risk by 27%.
- About 5% of people experience heartburn in any given year.
- These people are often prescribed gastric-acid suppressive drugs.
- Gastric-acid suppressive drugs are commonly prescribed for gastroesohageal reflux disease (GERD).
- GERD means a backflow of acid from the stomach into the esophagus.
- Most of us experience gastroesophageal reflux at some time or other.
- Symptoms include heartburn, an uncomfortable burning sensation behind the breastbone, usually after a meal.
- This reflux can become frequent or severe enough to cause more significant problems - a disease.
- GERD is a clinical condition that occurs when reflux of stomach acid into the esophagus is severe enough to impact the patient's life and/or damage the esophagus.
- Gastric-acid suppressive drugs are often prescribed for severe indigestion.
- Researchers believe that stomach acids kill off the bacteria that lead to pneumonia.
- As gastric-acid suppressive drugs reduce the amount of acid, they believe this allows the bacteria to spread.
- The researchers said patients on gastric-acid suppressive drugs should not give them up without checking with their doctors first.
About the author: Mike Adams is a consumer health advocate and award-winning journalist with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He has authored more than 1,800 articles and dozens of reports, guides and interviews on natural health topics, and he is well known as the creator of popular downloadable preparedness programs on financial collapse, emergency food storage, wilderness survival and home defense skills. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2010, Adams co-founded NaturalNews.com, a natural health video sharing site that has now grown in popularity. He also launched an online retailer of environmentally-friendly products (BetterLifeGoods.com) and uses a portion of its profits to help fund non-profit endeavors. He's also a noted technology pioneer and founded a software company in 1993 that developed the HTML email newsletter software currently powering the NaturalNews subscriptions. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and enjoys outdoor activities, nature photography, Pilates and martial arts training. He's also author a large number of health books offered by Truth Publishing and is the creator of numerous reference website including NaturalPedia.com and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. His websites also include the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the innate healing ability of the human body. Known on the 'net as 'the Health Ranger,' Adams shares his ethics, mission statements and personal health statistics at www.HealthRanger.org
Have comments on this article? Post them here:
people have commented on this article.
Monday, January 03, 2005
Email this article to a friend
Share
this article on: 
