Acid Reflux Medications Triple Risk of Developing Pneumonia

A new study from researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine shows that popular acid reflux medications triple the risk of developing pneumonia for critically ill patients.

The average length of stay if affected by pneumonia is extended by seven to nine days. Moreover, it also increases the risk of other complications and leave with increased cost to care. Pneumonia is the leading infection related disease that leads to death among seriously ill patients.

David L. Bowton, MD, senior researcher, head of the Section on Critical Care in the Department of Anesthesiology, said, “As best we can tell, patients who develop hospital-acquired pneumonia or ventilator-acquired pneumonia have about a 20 to 30 percent change of dying from that pneumonia. It’s a significant event.”

The Wake Forest study was published in a recent issue of the journal Chest. It compared acid reflux treatment of two drugs: ranitidine (Zantac TM) and pantoprazole (Prilosec TM). Both of these drugs decrease stomach acid. Prilosec has become the acid reflux drug of choice in many hospitals because it is more powerful than Zantac. However, an analysis of 834 patients showed that hospitalized cardiothoracic surgery patients treated with Prilosec were three times more likely to develop pneumonia.

Co-author of the journal Marc G. Reichert, pharmacy coordinator for surgery at the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center said “We conducted this study, in part, because we thought we were seeing more pneumonias than we were used to having,”.

Bacteria gets more comfortable with stomach when the acids in the stomach gets reduced. Very serious ill patients who are with breathing support are very much vulnerable to pneumonia when lungs gets affected due to refluxes of stomach acid. From early days physicians have prescribed these acid reflux drugs to the patients. But now it should be seriously considered whether it’s more good or more bad. It is said by Bowton that ranitidine (Zantac) should be used in cases where an acid reflux drug is needed.

It is said by Reichert that “Stopping the drugs earlier appears to be the best thing for patients,”

Acid reflux drugs carry risks for all individuals, not just the chronically ill. Prilosec, for example, which is commonly prescribed for heartburn, commonly causes headache and diarrhea. OTC Prilosec is available, but that does not it’s safe simply because you can get it without a prescription. Drugs are toxic substance which disturb the homeostasis within the body. Illness results from a disruption of this delicate balance. In fact, some acid reflux drugs can actually contribute to the problem of acid reflux with long-term use.

Natural solutions for acid reflux should be considered. These natural health solutions focus on lifestyle factors such as dietary choices and stress reduction to restore natural homeostasis. By focusing on diet, stress reduction, and other lifestyle choices, one former acid sufferer was able to completely heal his acid reflux. His symptoms were permanently cured without the use of potentially harmful medications. See Cure Acid Reflux Naturally (coming soon) to learn more about dietary choices and other lifestyle factors that can naturally cure heartburn and acid reflux.

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