I received the following in a newsletter/advertorial from Sherry Brescia.
When it comes to heartburn, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs)—such as Nexium, Prilosec and Prevacid—are the #1 most prescribed treatment.
Since their initial arrival on the US drug market back in 1989, PPIs have been hailed as “an invaluable, safe, and effective agent for the management of a variety of acid-related disorders.”
Um, I beg to differ.
First of all, PPIs “work” (and I use that term loosely) by raising your stomach’s pH and shutting down its acid production. With less acid in the stomach to shoot up into your throat, you may feel relief from heartburn.
But alas, when you play games with Mother Nature (in this case, by impairing one of your body’s innate processes), you are opening yourself up to a plethora of potential problems, including increasing your risk of death.
Here’s what I mean:
The five ways PPIs can kill you
Crippling your stomach’s ability to produce acid like it was designed to can have these deadly consequences:
1- Chronic kidney disease
PPIs can cause kidney inflammation (called acute interstitial nephritis) which can progress to chronic kidney disease, end-stage renal disease and ultimately kidney failure.
2- Heart attack
In addition to reducing acid in your stomach, PPIs also reduce the acid activity of lysosomes—cells that breakdown proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids. They also impact cellular functions, including those related to blood clotting. And they damage the inner lining of your arteries.
All of which raises your risk of heart attack.
3- Weakened immune function
PPIs cause poor digestion (because stomach acid is needed to properly digest proteins—imagine that!), which leads to imbalances in your gut microbiome.
Since your gut houses 80 percent of your immune system, unhealthy changes in the makeup of the microbiome can lead to weakened immune function.
Your immune system not only protects you against bugs and viruses, but also deadly diseases like cancer!
4- Dementia and Alzheimer’s
In the course of thwarting your digestion and absoprtion of nutrients, PPIs also increase your risk of dementia and Alzhemier’s due to reduced absorption of essential brain nutrients (especially Vitamin B12).
In addtion, PPIs have been shown in studies to increase the brain’s concentration of amyloid-beta—an amino acid that is the main component of the characteristic amyloid “plaques” found in the brains of Alzheimer’s sufferers.
5- Overall death risk
A study conducted at the Washington University School of Medicine and published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) showed that long-term use of PPIs increases overall death risk by a whopping 50 percent.
And there’s even more!
Over and above the ways PPIs can flat-out kill you, they also:
Cause gas, bloating and constipation (because of ruined digestion)
Increase your risk of fractures (due to reduced absorption of bone-strengthening vitamins and minerals)
Lead to low energy levels and metabolism (a result of impaired Vitamin B12 absorption)
Make you more susceptible to food poisoning and food-borne illnesses (since stomach acid kills many dangerous microbes in your food)
And they increase your risk of COVID too! Researchers have observed that people taking PPIs twice a day were found to be nearly four times more likely to contract the ‘Rona.
