If you want to keep your liver, ditch these popular meds
If you were to take a diagram of the human anatomy and put a pin everywhere that a study has shown acid-blocking drugs can harm, you’d either run out of pins… or run out of space!
Because these meds (called proton pump inhibitors, or PPIs) can harm almost every single part of your body.
They have been linked to bone fractures of the hip and spine… increased risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke… serious infection that can cause deadly diarrhea… kidney disease… the deadliest kind of esophageal cancer… and dementia.
Now, researchers out of the University of California have made another frightening discovery where PPIs are concerned.
You might think that one more finding wouldn’t make much of a difference, but this new warning may just hit home for millions.
And it could help to explain why a potentially deadly liver disease has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S.
Imagine thinking you’re perfectly healthy and going to see your doctor for something — only to be told your name might soon be added to the liver transplant list!
Because according to researchers from the UC San Diego School of Medicine, that’s what could happen to you… if you’ve been blocking your stomach acid with PPI drugs.
The scientists are warning that meds like that “purple pill” Nexium or Prilosec — the one recommended by Larry the Cable Guy — “promote liver injury” and can fast forward those three kinds of chronic liver disease: nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and cirrhosis.
And that’s true for both mice… and people.
If those conditions sound familiar to you, that may be because you’ve read about them right here in the eAlert.
We’ve already told you how fructose, including HFCS, and partially hydrogenated oils (still used in many processed foods, despite a scheduled phase-out next year) can set you up for NAFLD, the first stage of this progressively deadly liver disease that 80 million Americans suffer from.
Now, we can add these acid-blockers to the list.
Dr. Bernd Schnabl, a professor of gastroenterology at the medical school, had previously found that the health of your gut goes hand in hand with the health of your liver.
The complex colony of bacteria and other microbes, both good and bad, that inhabit your intestines can be a determining factor in whether you develop liver disease. But is it possible that changing something else in your digestive system — that is, suppressing all that stomach acid — might harm your liver as well?
And what they found was unbelievably scary: By blocking the production of stomach acid, PPI drugs promote the growth of a certain type of dangerous bacteria in your intestines that can migrate to your liver.
And when that happens, you’re in big trouble, as the domino effect can not only cause NAFLD… but, if you’ve already got liver disease, it can exacerbate it and even help it progress to the next stage.
What’s even more troubling is the fact that researchers from this new study noted that doctors prescribe and recommend these drugs to around 70 percent of those who already have liver disease!
And while these meds were once only available with an Rx, now you can buy them practically anywhere — which Americans do to the tune of $11 billion every year.
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: The time has come to ditch these drugs for good. But be sure to do it very, very gradually and never cold turkey, which can make your acid problem worse than ever.
To reduce excess stomach acid without resorting to drugs, try cutting back on high-acid foods and drinks (including all those heavily processed ones), sipping on a glass of water with an added tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, not eating too late, and not lying down immediately after eating.
HSI panel member Dr. Glenn Rothfeld also suggests something called “Inclined Bed Therapy,” in which you sleep with your head elevated six inches above your feet.
Remember, there are numerous nautral ways to keep acid at bay, but once your liver has reached the point of no return, you have very few options left.
To Safely Controlling Acid,
“Common acid reflux medications promote chronic liver disease” Heather Buschman, October 10, 2017, UC San Diego Health, health.ucsd.edu
