Acid Reflux Symptom
Drug Companies and Quick Fixes for Acid Reflux
Acid Reflux Symptom
Many times, we have problems, especially a health related problem, we want relief, and we want it now. The drug companies are quite aware of this impatience. Therefore, they introduce drugs on the market that seem to give a quick fix solution. The problem is that in most of the cases they do not tell you the long-term side effects of that quick relief.
Acid Reflux Symptom
Let us look at some of the workings and side effect of some of the common drugs we take to get immediate relief from Acid Reflux Disease.
Acid Reflux Symptom
Symptoms are our Body Crying out for Help
Our body has evolved in such a way that it can tell us that something is wrong. Our intestinal tract tells us that something is wrong when we get nausea, heartburn, acid indigestion, excessive intestinal gas and bloating, uncontrollable burping, cramps, diarrhea, constipation, blood, mucus. The symptoms are not the problem, but the body saying, 'Hey, I need some attention here!' However, what do we do? We focus not on finding what is causing the problem but we find medication to quiet that voice which is crying out for help. The problem remains, and the drug companies make billions because we do not treat the root of the problem but the symptoms.
Like other ailments, many people treat the symptom of the acid reflux problem and continue to have the problem and then treat the symptoms again and again and again. However, what makes this even more dangerous, is that the treatments for reflux acid that are used are also the seed to even greater health risk than the ailment itself.
Let us look at some of the more popular over the counter treatments for acid reflux disease, what it is that they do and some of their side effects.
Antacids
This kind of treatment depletes the acid that promotes digestion and prevents the absorption of mineral. Without a sufficient quantity of minerals, we are vulnerable to many diseases, from depression to cancer. In addition, antacids often contain aluminum, which, collects in the brain and can contribute to early senility and memory loss. Using antacids that relieve the symptoms also causes a false sense of security ignoring the real cause of the distress, which can lead to dangerous consequences.
H2-Blockers
These drugs actually stop the stomach from producing acid, or reduce the amount of acid that the stomach produces. This has to raise eyebrows because these drugs actually prevent a natural bodily function, which the body saw a need to evolve over countless eons.
Another problem with H2-Blockers is that they compete with the body for the same detoxification enzyme. This means that the body cannot get rid of poisons that might have invaded its system, so these poisons will accumulate and eventually destroy or damage vital organs.
A very important consideration is that these drugs do not affect everyone the same way and while some people will get away without much worry for quite a long time some of us are quite susceptible to the side effects of these drugs quite soon.
Diarrhea, yes diarrhea is another side effect of acid blockers. If you are taking drugs like Tagamet (cimetidine), Zantac (ranitidine), Axid (nizatidine), Pepcid, (fanotidine) or Mylanta AR Acid Reducer (famotidine) and other acid blocker including some of the newer acid blockers on the market.
Another side effect is that they can intensify the blood alcohol level making it higher than normal, making one alcohol drink seem like two or three depending on the individual physical tolerance.
Proton-Pump Inhibitors
Prilosec (generic name, omeprazole): This is a much stronger type of Acid-Blocker but it cannot be sold over the counter without a prescription, in other words, it must be doctor recommended. Proton-pump Inhibitors actually stop the stomach from producing acid.
Its side effects include diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, gas, constipation, reflux acid, and the development of cancerous tumors in the gut.
However, it does not stop there. Prilosec can cause fatal liver rot (necrosis), fatal pancreatitis, headache, back pain, hair loss, toxic epidermal necrolysis (a condition where your skin becomes red and scaly, then finally, painfully oozes and peels off), or it can stop the production of blood cells. Like Tagamet, Prilosec can severely distort or compromise the detoxification of other drugs.
However, Prilosec and similar drugs, which include Prevacid (lansoprazole), reach further into the workings of the cell to stop more normal function than other acid blockers. As proton-pump inhibitors, Prilosec-type drugs stop the stomach cells from producing acid altogether, curtailing normal stomach function.
Prilosec type drugs can also turn off other important stomach functions, which controls the absorption of B12 vitamin, which, in effect, can accelerate arteriosclerosis, depression, or fatigue to undiagnosable numbness, tingling and other nerve dysfunctions. If you happen to be a person with chronic disease, like diabetes or arteriosclerosis, you accelerate the side effects of that disease. Early aging, cataracts, painful neuropathy, even early death from heart attack, are only some of the side effects you may encounter. Why use these drugs when there are natural treatments for heartburn.
Research Findings
Another side effect from the use of artificial prevention of reflux acid is the reduction of the body's ability to absorb calcium efficiently. Imbalance of calcium in the body can lead to osteoporosis because of incorrect mineral bone density. UK research showed a 44% greater chance of breaking a hip, for sufferers over the age of 50 who had been using Proton-Pump Inhibitors for over a year, compared to acid reflux sufferers not using Proton-Pump Inhibitors. The types of Proton-Pump Inhibitors referred to included Medium, Prilosec, Cipher, Proton and Prefaced
Please remember that some of the many functions of the stomach acid include killing fungi, viruses, and bacteria also to provide a medium for initiating the absorption of minerals, digestion of food, and regulation of body pH, balance - functions we need to stay healthy.
In conclusion, there are too many ways to beat acid reflux naturally than to risk our good health with quick fixes.
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