Posted on 08/13/2023 8:52:23 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
People who take acid reflux medications called proton pump inhibitors for four-and-a-half years or more may have a higher risk of dementia compared to people who do not take these medications, according to research. This study does not prove that acid reflux drugs cause dementia; it only shows an association.
"Proton pump inhibitors are a useful tool to help control acid reflux, however long-term use has been linked in previous studies to a higher risk of stroke, bone fractures and chronic kidney disease," said study author Kamakshi Lakshminarayan, MBBS, Ph.D.
The study included 5,712 people, age 45 and older, who did not have dementia at the start of the study. They had an average age of 75.
Participants were then followed for a median duration of 5.5 years. During this time, 585 people, or 10%, developed dementia.
Of the 4,222 people who did not take the drugs, 415 people developed dementia, or 19 cases per 1,000 person-years. Person-years represent both the number of people in the study and the amount of time each person spends in the study. Of the 497 people who took the drugs for more than 4.4 years, 58 people developed dementia, or 24 cases per 1,000 person years.
After adjusting for factors such as age, sex and race, as well as health-related factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes, researchers found people who had been taking acid reflux drugs for more than 4.4 years had a 33% higher risk of developing dementia than people who never took the drugs.
Researchers did not find a higher risk of dementia for people who took the drugs for fewer than 4.4 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
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I got terribly ill during covid and my doctor’s entire office was closed because they were all sick. So I told a nurse my symptoms and she said it sounded like I had C-diff, but the only cure was antibiotics (didn’t make sense to me). So I researched what caused it, and taking acid prohibitors was one. I had been taking Tagament and Zantac daily for years. I had also been taking a cheap probiotic for IBS, which I found a good one has around 11 strains.
So I got good probiotics. I thought quitting acid reducers would be hard, but I switched to drinking club soda and a tums here and there if needed. Also quit eating right before going to bed, move around a little after eating. Actually made very few dietary changes.
My C diff, if that’s what it was since I couldn’t get to doctor, the symptoms went away. It’s been 3 years since I’ve had bad acid indigestion or IBS, and when I do that’s usually self inflicted.
See my post 42.
Club soda works too.
I’ve had that. It’s also painful. I thought it was another ulcer but finally went to doctor and took some antibiotics. I finally got rid of my lifetime acid indigestion about 3 years ago without medication.
Good post. See my post 42.
For me, it's about avoiding taking unnecessary medications if I don't need it, like aspirin when all I want is an antacid.
-PJ
Yes, aspirin isn’t good for acid stomach for sure. I have to take 81 aspirin daily for other reasons, but it’s enteric coated and I take with food.
I was on Pantoprozole for about 5 years. After I had Covid I was experiencing some issues with brain fog, dizziness, etc. I thought this was long term Covid, but decided to start checking my prescriptions.
When I got to Pantoprozole, there weren’t any warnings about those issues as side effects, but for some reason I went to a page about dosage and long term use. To my surprise, the drug is not recommended for more than one year. And use beyond that period of time brings on a load of side effects such as the ones I was experiencing. I quit taking Pantoprozole and they went away. If you are taking any of these drugs long term be careful.
And you can bet your doctor doesn’t know about this risk of using them for long term since the info is buried way down in the protocols.
I had two family members who found H. pylori was the apparent root of their stomach issues, and both got over them with antibiotic therapy.
No doctor can possibly know all such things.
Really, we need to stay on top of our issues and our doctors. They don’t i tend to hurt anyone, but definitely can.
Sanity check all medical people.
You take 81 aspirins a day?
81 mg, lol.
I did take the antibiotics for h. Pylori, but my usual stomach problems returned, until I educated myself.
Thats good. Too many doctors don’t even bother testing for H.pylori and instead just put patient on a lifetime of antacids. And those proton pump inhibitors also are associated with increased risk of stomach cancer.
“My doctor weaned me off it over a period of about two months and then started me on famotidine. Much safer and much cheaper. I’ve been fine with it.”
My doctor put me on Pepcid (famotidine) four years ago. My annual cognitive tests are showing a [fairly] rapid fall into pre-dementia (at 80). (remembering recent words).
Have your doc test your stomach acid levels...if s/he won’t...find another doc
In America, what we claim is the “best health are in the world,” is really just rationed care no different than what you have in Europe and other advanced socialized health care systems.
1. The care you get is defined by a “standard of care” which is really what the NIH, DEA and FDA decide on and then insurance companies provide.
2. Insurance will not pay if you step outside the standard of care, and hospitals or doctors expose themselves to scutiny or legal risk of they do. So you really just get what some buerocrat and big pharma and the insurances decide. YOU, the person paying for it all, the one impacted (your body), your values are irrelevant.
***The US has the worst of both worlds!!! You have the costs of a private and non-cost controlled pharma industry, private hospitals gauging patients in every way possible, while in reality the patient is getting managed and rationed care.***
All you really have is impressive advertising, the belief in ones own superiority, a legacy of scientific and medical accomplishments. But today if I go to a US hospital with strep, high blood pressure, most cancers... I get the same treatment that I get in Germany, France, the UK, only I pay far more.
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