Powerful Antacid Drugs Raise Fracture Risk

Yesterday, a friend forwarded the article below to me; she knows how I feel about how doctors continuing to push taking acid reducing medications like candy when most likely the majority of people need to add more acid instead of taking it away.

I am very angry about doctors over-prescribing PPI’s and such medications to people experiencing acid reflux or heartburn—without ever taking the time to check if excessive acid production is their real problem.  And never caring about the effects this will have on the body in the future; especially with long term use. 

I have much still to post here about what has happened with me personally since the last post.  However, I found this article too important not to go ahead and post now.  Even though, I am inserting it in between my log of events. 

FINALLY, the medical profession is WAKING UP to the truth and great hazards of telling people to take acid-reducers on a regular basis!  Hallelujah! 

MONDAY, Aug. 11 (HealthDay News) -- New Canadian research shows that long-term use of proton pump inhibitors for acid reflux, peptic ulcers and related disorders elevates the risk of osteoporosis-related fractures.

 

This is now the third large study finding an increased risk of such fractures in people who use these medications. This latest study, reported in the current issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found the longest period of time from starting the drugs to seeing problems emerge.

 

Physicians and patients may need to curb their enthusiasm for prescribing proton pump inhibitors, which have surged in popularity, experts said.

 

"Almost all of us gastroenterologists and internists have become complacent about the use of these medications," said Dr. Felice Schnoll-Sussman, director of research at the Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health, Weill Cornell Medical Center at New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. "This makes us all take a step back and look at all the patients we have on these medications and ask whether they require still being on this medication, at this dosage, at this frequency. Can we make some alterations in their dosing regimen? Can we switch them? Do they need to be on anything at all at this point?"… 

Read the rest of this interesting article at www.everydayhealth.com. 

While the article reveals that doctors are finally taking some notice of the problem, it still seems to me they are only seeing a little bit of the truth.  They are missing such a simple but HUGE factor—that most people are suffering from acid reflux due to not having enough acid in their stomach to digest their food; hence the food acids are coming back up their esophagus and causing reflux.  The simple solution: add acid.  I have had SUCH success with this. 

The article also mentions something about taking osteoporosis medications as an “option” to solving the problem of future bone fractures.  However, before doing that, PLEASE fully inform yourself on exactly how those medications work.  While bones may be getting denser when taking those medications, it doesn’t mean the bones are getting STRONGER.  Those medications cause the body to store the OLD bone instead of allowing new bone to be made and stored.  I have recently informed myself about some of these things, as I was just recently diagnosed as having osteoporosis at forty years of age.  I wholeheartedly feel that it has a lot to do with having a low stomach acid problem.  It is CRITICAL to have adequate acid in the stomach to not only absorb calcium properly but most all nutrients.  Keep checking back here for updated posts about my journey and discoveries.