Thread: Popular Heartburn Drugs Linked to Dementia Risk, Study Shows

Popular Heartburn Drugs Linked to Dementia Risk, Study Shows

The new warning comes after researchers found that proton pump inhibitors — a group of drugs that includes Prilosec, Nexium and Prevacid — could be linked to kidney disease.


http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/...s-623341123665

You need to go to the link for video report.

I'm in the process of weaning myself off... but it's definitely a process.

Can you imagine the risk for a middle aged person who's on both statins AND these???

Yikes.

Popular Heartburn Pills Can Be Hard To Stop, And May Be Risky
Rob Stein
Updated February 16, 20165:09 PM ET Published February 15, 20164:41 AM ET


When Marcella Lafayette started having really bad heartburn, she went to her doctor to see if there was anything that might help.

"I was experiencing a lot of chest pain, back pain caused from heartburn," says Lafayette, 62, of Portland, Ore.

Her doctor diagnosed her with gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, and prescribed a drug called a proton pump inhibitor, or PPI. The drug worked, but Lafayette soon started having other problems, such as muscle weakness and severe leg cramping.

Lafayette discovered she was suffering from a magnesium deficiency, a side effect of the drug. She also learned that PPIs can cause not just deficiencies of nutrients but other side effects, such as an increased risk for infections.

So Lafayette decided to try to stop using her PPI. But whenever she did, her heartburn returned. And the symptoms were much worse.

"I can't seem to get off the drug, because when I do, I experience severe stomach pain. I can't eat anything without experiencing stomach pain," Lafayette says. "It just feels like you've got a knife in your gut. It's just really painful."

Lafayette is not alone. Many people have trouble discontinuing PPIs because the amount of acid in their digestive system surges when they stop taking the drug.

Experiences like Lafayette's, and rising evidence that the drugs may be associated with a variety of increased risks, are making doctors increasingly worried about their wide use.

"The teaching for many years was that these drugs were quite safe," says John Clarke, a gastroenterologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. "But there is data that's emerging that suggests PPIs may not be as safe as we think they are."

An estimated 15 million Americans use PPIs, which are sold by prescription and over the counter under a variety of brand names, including Nexium, Prilosec and Prevacid.

They work by blocking production of stomach acid. And that could be the root of the problem, according to Clarke. Stomach acid helps digest food and also has a "barrier function against different pathogens which are ingested," he says.

So when there's less stomach acid, it leaves people vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies and infections, including food poisoning like salmonella, a serious, sometimes life-threatening digestive system infection called Clostridium difficile, and perhaps pneumonia.

Stomach acid also helps digest food. So if you don't have any of that acid, it can make it hard to get the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients you need from your food — including nutrients that keep bones strong and prevent fractures.

In addition, one recent study suggested people who take PPIs may be at greater risk of heart disease; another suggested the drugs could increase the risk for chronic kidney disease.

Updated Feb. 15, 11 a.m. ET: The latest concern is that PPIs might increase the risk for dementia. Britta Haenisch and colleagues at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Bonn studied 73,679 people ages 75 and older. The researchers found regular PPI users had at least a 44 percent increased risk of dementia compared with those not using the drugs.

The researchers caution that the risk could only be considered an "association," until more research could be conducted to produce more conclusive evidence. But the findings indicate "the avoidance of PPI medication may contribute to the prevention of dementia."

How PPIs might increase the risk for dementia is unclear. But other researchers recently reported that, in the brains of mice, PPIs seem to increase levels of a damaging protein that accumulates in the brains of dementia patients, known as beta-amyloid.

In an editorial accompanying the study in the journal JAMA Neurology, Lewis Kuller of the University of Pittsburgh wrote that the findings "provided an important and interesting challenge to evaluate the possible association," which is a "very important issue given" how commonly the drugs are used by the elderly, who are already at increased risk for dementia.

Our original post continues: As this evidence has emerged, Clarke says, "I think it's imperative that people who take these drugs really make sure that they are looking at the risks versus benefit and people don't use these drugs lightly."

Many people take PPIs when they don't really need them, Clarke says. They could get rid of their heartburn by making lifestyle changes, such as losing weight and cutting back on alcohol, caffeine and spicy and fatty foods. And many people stay on them a lot longer than they need them, he says. PPIs are usually supposed to be taken for two to eight weeks, although doctors may recommend more.

The companies that make PPIs say they're safe for most people if they use them the way they're supposed to. And doctors say many people really need to take a PPI for severe heartburn.

"Proton pump inhibitors do have some very positive benefits to patients," says Kenneth DeVault, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic who is president of the American College of Gastroenterology. "They relieve symptoms better than any other medication that has ever been developed."

The most important "positive effect of proton pump inhibitors is restoration of a quality of life," DeVault says. "This is probably the big one."

PPIs may also reduce the risk for esophageal cancer for some people, he says.

DeVault says if someone really needs a PPI, they should take one. But they should try everything else first, keep an eye out for any side effects, and talk to their doctor about how long they should stay on it.

Why I didn't research this drug properly before I started taking it, I honestly don't know, except I was so tired of struggling with heartburn all my life... and I mean ALL my life... Seemed like a miracle to not have heartburn anymore...

Originally Posted by A.J.

Why I didn't research this drug properly before I started taking it, I honestly don't know, except I was so tired of struggling with heartburn all my life... and I mean ALL my life... Seemed like a miracle to not have heartburn anymore...

i take nexium and......

Originally Posted by Valiant Woman

Taking Peppermint Therapeutic Grade Essential Oil will stop acid reflux & heartburn. There's also an Essential Oil called "Digize" that works wonderfully.

These two Essential Oils are the perfect alternative to taking the harmful drugs big pharma keeps shoving at us while they rake in billions by people's suffering.

Be sure it's "therapeutic grade" oil, not organic or pure. The best are sold by Young Living.

For some odd reason, I've often found peppermint gives me heartburn, although, I haven't tried essential oil. But the night time and calming teas that have peppermint, I have to avoid.

And as far as the "best" is concerned... Zija has a line of CLINICAL grade essential oils, called Ameo. It takes less drops of a clinical grade than therapeutic...

lol ... not trying to start an oil war but we also have Kay Sharpe promoting her line of oils as well... so now we have 3. ;-)

AJ, have you ever gone to a functional/integrative doctor to get to the root of your heartburn? You have said you've done numerous things, but have you done parasite/candida cleanses, being very strict for many months? Candida is almost next to get rid of if you aren't super strict. Also, because candida causes leaky gut syndrome, have you treated that as well? Most of the gut issues are directly related to either candida or leaky gut, or both. And heavy metals like mercury bind to candida in the gut where it's attached to the gut wall (usually small intestine). Then, you have to detox the mercury too.

But in all honesty, a few tests can determine if you have any of these issues......you just have to go to the right kind of doctor.

Originally Posted by CatchyUsername

AJ, have you ever gone to a functional/integrative doctor to get to the root of your heartburn? You have said you've done numerous things, but have you done parasite/candida cleanses, being very strict for many months? Candida is almost next to get rid of if you aren't super strict. Also, because candida causes leaky gut syndrome, have you treated that as well? Most of the gut issues are directly related to either candida or leaky gut, or both. And heavy metals like mercury bind to candida in the gut where it's attached to the gut wall (usually small intestine). Then, you have to detox the mercury too.

But in all honesty, a few tests can determine if you have any of these issues......you just have to go to the right kind of doctor.

It has to do with the nerves in my spine, kinda between my shoulders, about where the bra wraps around... Which came first, the chicken or the egg? The spinal issues in the nerves to the stomach or the stomach issues causing the back to go out.

I know when I eat wheat, my neck goes out....

Leaky gut is something I've been considering, being that I have been diagnosed with diverticulosis, but the couple of colonoscopies I've had have shown no infections... I haven't done a candida cleanse since I quit eating bread/wheat.

Can't think of anything (except leaky gut) that I haven't done... I even did the hydrogen peroxide drink years ago. That was
GAWWWD- AWFULLLLL!!!

Had my mercury fillings all replace d about 15 yrs ago but did not do a heavy metal cleanse. I DO know I started to feel better after.

For about 4.5 yrs now, I've been drinking something called ZIJA... it's a product made from a blend of the tree called Moringa Oleifera... it has over 90 measurable nutrients including amino acids and anti inflammatories. Very high in Chlorophyll, which helps the body detox. They have a detox tea as well to pull the toxins out as the drink does its job.

I can't imagine my life without it. My testimony for it is that I looked all my life for something that would make me FEEL BETTER... well I found it in ZIJA. The high level of natural anti inflammatories in it makes the inflammation in your body just drain off. It's amazing...

It's known to address, arrest and reverse over 300 diseases and disorders. If a person googles their issue + Moringa, pages of information comes up... there are whole organizations devoted to planting these trees to combat malnutrition in 3rd world countries.

So ... all that to say ... I have been also counting on the Moringa to heal my intestinal issues.

OH ........ something else I discovered is that people can have full body migraines... it's the strangest thing and not well known. A full body migrainge affects the intestines.

On a side note... I also need to do a cleanse from sugar again, that I've been putting off. *blush*