April 7, 2011
How Can The Usage Of Medication For Heartburn Lead To Pneumonia
Can Taking Heartburn Drugs Cause Pneumonia might sound like a stupid question, but it might just be true. New research findings indicated that people who use certain prescribed medication for heartburn might have an increased risk to develop pneumonia. The risk is not high, but it can be dangerous for elderly people and those with serious health problems.
The two types of drugs that might cause the problem are medication that act as proton pump inhibitors and H2 receptor blockers. A wide variety of prescribed medication belonging to these classes are frequently used to treat the symptoms of heartburn or ulcers. The findings are based on 31 studies from Europe, Asia and North America. Non-prescription drugs for heartburn do not have the same potentially harmful effect.
Bad eating habits, stress and a lack of exercise can all contribute to digestive problems. Internationally there is a significant increase in people suffering from chronic heartburn, ulcers and other digestive ailments. People spend billions of dollars across the globe on hospital treatment or medication to relief the symptoms of acid-related ailments.
The studies found that people on either one of the drugs were about one-quarter more at risk to develop pneumonia than non-users. The findings apply to hospital patients as well as out-of-hospital patients who developed pneumonia while they were taking one of the specific drugs. One explanation is that the medication neutralizes the stomach acid so that bacteria that normally would have been killed, now survive and can end up in the lungs.
The results of the studies are not cast in stone. It is not conclusive that the specific drugs are the only cause of the problem. One researcher warned that the chronic reflux of acid can also partly cause the increased occurrence of pneumonia. It is possible that stomach acids can end up in the airways or lungs where it can cause pneumonia.
The findings suggest that doctors as well as patients should practice caution in prescribing or using drugs for the relief of heartburn. Medication can have harmful effects that vary from patient to patient. Adapting one’s eating habits and/or lifestyle is often enough to solve the problem.
People often want a quick cure or fast relief from negative symptoms. Any kind of drug should only be taken if changes in diet or lifestyle do not have the required effect, and even then the lowest dose possible should be taken. Prescribed acid-depressing medication should only be used in severe cases to treat or prevent damage to the esophagus or stomach lining.
There are several factors that can cause heartburn or acid reflux. Finding out which of them affects one the most can help one to make lifestyle changes to prevent or manage the problem. The most frequent causes of heartburn include certain foods, especially those with a high caffeine and animal fat content. Certain fruit juices, gas cool drinks and alcoholic beverages can also cause an increase in stomach acid.
Knowledge is power and the more one finds out about the factors that cause one’s discomfort, the easier it will be to find a natural solution. Quitting smoking and avoiding fast food meals can be hard at first, but the benefits will far outweigh the sacrifice in the long run. Eating before bedtime and wearing tight-fitting clothes can also cause the reflux of stomach content into the esophagus. There are many lifestyle changes one should try before one pops a pill that only treats the symptoms, but not the cause.
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