If you suffer from heartburn or reflux, your doctor may have suggested you take a proton pump inhibitor.
What your doctor may not have told you is the serious side effects these drugs can cause.
It seems that the list of side effects is continually growing longer. A new study explains why it might be a serious mistake to take these drugs.
Plus, I’ll tell you about a natural way to cure the problem in just 3 weeks.
PPIs are one of the most abused class of drugs in our medical system. There are a bunch of them. The most common ones are omeprazole (Prilosec), lansoprazole (Prevacid), dexlansoprazole (Dexilent), rabeprazole (Aciphex), and pantoprazole (Protonix). These drugs are popular. Millions of Americans take them every day to treat their heartburn and reflux symptoms. In fact, PPIs rank second only to statins in drug sales. But the side effects are terrible. They include cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, dementia, B12 deficiency, stomach infections, and pneumonia.
Here’s the real kicker. In a survey of 168,727 men and women, those who were taking PPIs on a regular basis “had more medical illnesses and sought medical care significantly more often than patients not taking acid suppressants.”
But now we know they’re even worse. According to a recent review article, they “were identified recently as an independent risk factor for osteoporotic fracture.” And here’s why that is such a problem.
Half of all of the long-term users of PPIs are post-menopausal women. And this particular group is especially at risk for osteoporotic fractures. Three large case-control studies and one retrospective cohort study reported that PPI therapy increased the relative risk of fracture by as much as 92% among post-menopausal women. Three other prospective studies found the same thing. The Study for Osteoporotic Fractures followed 5,339 women for up to five years. The women who were using PPIs had as much as a 64% increased chance of breaking a hip than women who avoided the drugs.
But here’s the surprising discovery in this study – the men did even worse. Among 5,775 men, those who used PPIs were as much as 114% more likely to break a bone. And the list goes on. But how do these drugs cause osteoporosis? And what can be done about it?
The most popular theory is related to stomach acid. PPIs help with the symptoms of heartburn and reflux because they suppress the body’s natural production of stomach acid. And since calcium and other minerals, as well as vitamin B12, require stomach acid to be absorbed, researchers have concluded that a lack of calcium absorption was the cause. But this theory has not really panned out. A recent article entitled “Do proton pump inhibitors [PPIs] decrease calcium absorption?” clearly shows that a lack of calcium is not what causes the increased risk of fractures.
According to their findings, the authors of the study suggest that PPIs may cause osteoporosis through an alternative mechanism. As possible causes, they list vitamin B12 deficiency because it can indirectly increase the risk of fracture by causing peripheral neuropathy and loss of balance.
Plus, it can lead to high homocysteine levels, and this can have an adverse effect on the way bones are maintained through collagen cross-linking. They go on to theorize that, “Additionally, PPI therapy might decrease absorption of protein, with potential long-term adverse effects on bone health. Bacterial overgrowth also can complicate prolonged PPI therapy and might alter absorption of nutrients, contributing to fracture risk.” But here’s the thing.
But even considering all these negative effects, the main reason why taking these drugs over time will decrease your lifespan and make you significantly more vulnerable to all diseases is that they work by inhibiting the movement of protons across membranes. Unfortunately for Pharma, our cells create the energy we need to live based on protons moving across membranes. So, PPIs are basically anti-life. A short course of 3-4 weeks is not an issue. But taking these drugs chronically is asking for problems.
No matter how PPIs cause diseases and bone fractures, the fact is that they do. Another point is that, for the most part, they are not necessary. Most of the time heartburn and reflux can be cured simply by changing the way we eat. In my experience, 90% of people who take these drugs regularly can avoid them and successfully treat their heartburn or reflux by eating smaller meals (especially supper), and avoiding junk foods, sodas, alcohol, NSAID drugs, and sweets. Other natural remedies include digestive enzymes, probiotics, and anti-yeast therapy. If you are taking these drugs, here’s what I suggest.
Continue your medication as usual for three weeks. During that time, avoid all alcohol, carbonation, NSAID medications, fruit, grains, sweets, and root vegetables. Also, take a good probiotic and a supplement called Candida Combat, which is available online.
After three weeks, decrease the pills to once every four days and resume a regular diet. But continue to keep the meals small. And remember to stay away from alcohol, carbonation, and NSAIDs. If your symptoms return, restart the medication. But if they don’t, bingo! You have just cured yourself of the problem.
In that case, you can stop the pills entirely while being sure to stay on the dietary program religiously for another six weeks. At the six-week point, you will find out that you can occasionally break the rules without getting any symptoms. Just be careful that you don’t get right back to your old habits, or the symptoms are likely to return.
Yours for better health,
Frank Shallenberger, MD
REF: Hansen KE, Jones AN, et al. Do Proton Pump Inhibitors Decrease Calcium Absorption? J Bone Miner Res. 2010 Dec; 25(12): 2786–2795.