Recently by Dr. David Brownstein: A New Illness Strikes: Media-Iodophobia
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a safety alert for proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). PPIs are a class of medications commonly used to treat stomach and duodenal ulcers, reflux esophagitis, and other gastric problems. PPIs include:
• AcipHex (rabeprazole sodium) • Dexilant (dexlansoprazole) • Nexium (esomeprazole magnesium) • Omeprazole (omeprazole) Over-the-Counter (OTC) • Prevacid (lansoprazole) and OTC Prevacid 24hr • Prilosec (omeprazole) and OTC • Protonix (pantoprazole sodium) • Vimovo (esomeprazole magnesium and naproxen) • Zegerid (omeprazole and Sodium bicarbonate) and OTC
The FDA stated, “…the use of stomach acid drugs known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) may be associated with an increased risk of Clostridium difficile–associated diarrhea (CDAD). A diagnosis of CDAD should be considered for patients taking PPIs who develop diarrhea that does not improve.”(1)
C. difficile is a bacterium that can infect the colon and cause severe, life-threatening diarrhea. It causes over three million cases of diarrhea per year in the U.S. Approximately 1-4% of patients with C. difficile die from the illness.
Those who read my books don’t have to wait years for the FDA to act. Three years ago in Drugs That Don’t Work and Natural Therapies That Do, I wrote about the consequences of long-term use of PPIs. I stated, “The reason we are seeing such a dramatic increase in C. difficile infections is clear; it is due to the overuse of powerful antacid medications.”
David Brownstein, M.D. is a Board-Certified family physician and is one of the foremost practitioners of holistic medicine. He is the Medical Director of the Center for Holistic Medicine in West Bloomfield, MI. Dr. Brownstein has lectured internationally to physicians and others about his success in using natural hormones and nutritional therapies in his practice.
