SmartHealthForLife.com

It has been found out at Wake Forest University School of Medicine by researchers that famous acid reflux medications increase the risk of developing pneumonia of very ill patients by three times.

Pneumonia acquired in the hospital is the leading cause of infection-related death among critically ill patients. Pneumonia increases the average length of the hospital stays by seven to nine days. It also increases the cost of care and risk of other complications.

Senior researcher David L. Bowton, MD, 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.

Marc G. Reichert, Co-author of the journal and 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,”.

By reducing acid in the stomach, acid reflux drugs can make the stomach more hospitable to bacteria. Chronically ill patients who are on breathing machines are especially vulnerable to pneumonia when stomach acid refluxes into the lungs. That’s why their heads should be elevated to reduce the risk of stomach acid getting into the lungs. Doctors have historically given acid reflux drugs to these patients, but now that should consider whether an acid reducer might do more harm than good. Bowton said 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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Blue Heron cureth News is a leading publishing firm in the field of natural cureth. Their natural cureth publications include a guide to cure acid reflux in natural way.

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