Important Note About Pneumonia As a follow up to yesterdays e-Alert ("Apples & Oranges" 12/20/05), I have one more important note about pneumonia: You may be putting yourself at greater risk of developing this debilitating condition if you take antacid drugs to relieve heartburn. In a 2004 study that appeared in the Journal of the American Medical association, Dutch researchers evaluated data collected from the medical records of more than 360,000 patients enrolled in a primary care database. Each subject had been enrolled for a minimum of one year. The researchers concluded that the use of drugs to suppress gastric acid quadrupled the risk of pneumonia compared to patients who didn't use the drugs. The drugs analyzed in this study were from two different classes: proton pump inhibitors (for acid reflux) and H2 receptor antagonists (for heartburn). Here are the familiar brand names in these two classes: - Proton pump inhibitors: Nexium, Prilosec, Prevacid, Protonix, Aciphex
- H2 receptor antagonists: Pepcid, Zantac, Tagamet, Rotane, Axid
The justification for using these drugs is based on the completely wrongheaded belief that stomach acid is bad. Which overlooks the obvious: Stomach acid is there for a reason. You can't digest food without it! In the e-Alert "Fire Down Below" (12/23/02), HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., explained how gastroesophageal problems can be safely and inexpensively treated in most cases by using acidophilus and digestive enzymes. You can find that e-Alert on our web site at hsibaltimore.com. |
