Big Pharma heartburn drugs raise risk of kidney failure; learn how to relieve heartburn naturally instead

Tuesday, February 23, 2016 by: Harold Shaw
Tags: heartburn, PPI side-effects, natural alternatives

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(NaturalNews) Almost everyone has experienced the searing chest pain we call heartburn on at least one occasion. This ailment is quite common, and most of the time nothing to be concerned about. It can often be weathered through or even cured naturally.

But, of course if we learned how to manage every disease without pills, then Big Pharma wouldn't be making as handsome a profit as they are today. So we've been taught to look for the "quick fix," even when it comes to something as simple as heartburn. Instead of curing our chest pain naturally, we ingest medication that relieves our symptoms, but causes dozens of other health issues in exchange. And it all works out for Big Pharma, because when those nasty side-effects finally surface, we'll need even more pills.

A new study links heartburn drugs to kidney disease

In 2013 alone, 15 million Americans spent more than $10 billion on heartburn medications like Nexium, Prevacid and Prilosec, also known as proton-pump inhibitors or PPIs. According to a recent study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, and led by epidemiologist Morgan Grams from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health, these PPIs significantly increase the chances of developing kidney disease.

The study involved more than 250,000 people separated into two groups. In the first group, 322 of 10,482 people were using heartburn medication. For those using drugs, the estimated absolute risk from chronic kidney disease was 11.8 percent, in comparison to 8.5 percent for everyone else. The second group covered 248,751 patients, 16,900 of whom were using heartburn drugs. The latter showed a risk of 15.6 percent for kidney disease, while others showed only 13.9 percent. Although the study could not decisively associate PPIs with chronic kidney disease, it certainly indicated a grave cause for concern and a need for further research.

PPIs are hurting more than your kidneys

Although an increased risk of kidney failure is reason enough to quit heartburn medication, the damage caused by these pesky PPIs is not restricted to your kidneys. Indeed, researchers from Stanford University found that people who suffered from acid reflux and treated it with PPIs were 16 percent more likely to suffer from a heart attack. They were also twice as likely to die from heart disease.

And that's not all. In 2010, the FDA mandated that all PPIs – either prescription based or sold over the counter – should display a fracture risk warning on their labels. It seems that several epidemiological studies had associated heartburn medication with an increased risk of fractures of the hip, wrist and spine. It was also noted that by suppressing your stomach acids, PPIs prevent your natural absorption of vitamins and severely increase your risk of developing certain potentially life-threatening infections.

Easy tricks to relieve heartburn without medication

For a long time, we have put ourselves ahead of our ancestors, because of the discovery of antibiotics and modern medicine. It seems, however, that the more we study, the more we begin to grasp the underestimated potency of natural medicine. This is also the case with heartburn, which can be treated with simple homemade remedies and no side effects whatsoever.

If you find yourself suffering from heartburn after meals, then try preparing and drinking simple aloe juice before you eat. A bit of ginger root tea is also guaranteed to calm down your stomach and act as an acid buffer. If you're out of ginger, then a cup of chamomile tea before bed will have a similar effect. If heartburn occurs frequently for you, then you'll be able to manage it better if you put together a little diary and keep track of the foods that trigger the ailment. By comparison with poisonous over-the-counter medication, maintaining a healthy diet is definitely a better alternative.

Sources include:

NBCNews.com

JAMANetwork.com

HealthImpactNews.com

EverydayRoots.com