Acid-reducing drugs such as Prilosec can trigger deadly infections

Don't let these heartburn meds cause a Thanksgiving health crisis

It’s less than 24 hours to the big feast — and if you’re anything like me, you already have visions of turkey drumsticks dancing in your head.

But load up on too much of your daughter’s pumpkin pie or Cousin Nancy’s famous macaroni salad, and heartburn could turn you into one unhappy pilgrim.

Before, you go running to the medicine cabinet for acid-blocking meds like Prilosec and Nexium — called proton pump inhibitors — there’s a warning you need to hear.

Because one of America’s top hospitals has proven that loading up on PPIs could set you up for a dangerous infection down the road — one that could cost you your life.

And it’s never been more important to make this the year you beat back the agony of heartburn and acid reflux naturally.

‘Friendly fire’ in your gutBelieve me, I get it. When you’re dealing with the pain and discomfort of heartburn — when you feel like you’re choking on your own stomach acid — you don’t care how the meds you’re taking work.

You just want them to work now.

But earlier this year doctors from the Mayo Clinic took a look at the long-term damage that PPIs can cause. And it wasn’t pretty.

You see, PPIs don’t just stop your body from producing the vital stomach acid you need to properly digest food. They also kill off trillions of the friendly gut bacteria that help your immune system fight off diseases.

And that can make you a sitting duck for a life-threatening — and hard-to-treat — infection like pneumonia or C. diff.

The senior author of the study, gastroenterologist Dr. John DiBaise, said that when you have less “good” bacteria, you can open the floodgates for harmful bacteria to multiply.

Now I’m sure I don’t have to tell you what a risk pneumonia can be to your health, especially as you get older. It’s one of our country’s leading killers.

But if you’re not familiar with C. diff., well, consider yourself lucky.

So many people are getting C. diff. infections these days that it actually kills someone every 20 minutes.

It’s contagious, causes severe diarrhea, and can actually bore a hole straight through your intestines. That’s some chance to take for a little heartburn relief!

You’d think with all the risks of PPIs that the drug companies would at least make some token effort to warn us. But trust me, that’s not on their agenda.

They’re too busy running commercials with Larry the Cable Guy popping wheelies and bragging about how he takes Prilosec each and every day.

Lots of luck, Larry.

Of course, what Larry has forgotten to tell us is that there are plenty of ways to beat heartburn without touching a prescription or OTC drug, like:

Eating your food slowly to give your body time to digest./li>
Avoiding laying down for at least two hours after eating (that means skipping that post-turkey nap).
Elevating the head of your bed about six inches (this is best done by placing a block under the headboard, rather than stacking pillows).
Avoiding alcohol, tobacco and foods that trigger symptoms.
Using natural remedies like ginger root and real licorice (you can get supplements just about anywhere) to safely neutralize excess acid.

And before I go, I just want to wish you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving. I hope it’s an opportunity to spend time with the people you truly treasure, and to reflect on all we have to be thankful for as Americans.

Sources:
“Proton-pump inhibitors may boost death risk in patients” Marcia Frellick, November 12, 2015, Medscape, medscape.com