The human body requires acid in the
stomach to digest and assimilate food. Stomach
acid also keeps dangerous bacteria in check and
protects the gastrointestinal tract from
infection. But the stress of modern living with
deteriorating dietary habits often causes this
stomach acid to reflux into the esophagus causing
irritation to the sensitive lining of the
esophagus, resulting in heartburn, irrespective of
age, sex, and race. Left unchecked, it may
progress eventually to cancer of the
esophagus.
Proton pump inhibitors (PPI) are a group
of medications that decrease the amount of acid in
the stomach. Doctors prescribe PPI to treat people
with acid reflux, GERD, ulcers in the stomach or
intestine, or other digestive disorders that may
be caused by excess stomach acid. Proton-pump
inhibitors reduce the production of acid by
blocking the enzyme in the wall of the stomach
that produces acid. The reduction of acid prevents
ulcers and heals existing ulcers in the esophagus,
stomach and duodenum. The proton pump is an enzyme
that takes out non-acidic potassium and replaces
it with an acidic hydrogen ion. By putting more
hydrogen ions in the stomach, the pump makes the
contents of the stomach more acidic. But, PPI
stops the action of the pump, stopping the acid
secretion.
There are five types of PPI all being
similar in their mode of action. They are
raberprazole (Aciphex), esomeprazole (Nexium),
lansoprazole (Prevacid), omeprazole (Prilosec),
pantoprazole (Protonix). They differ in how they
are broken down by the liver and how they interact
with other medications. Effect of some PPIs may
last longer than others.
Both PPI and H2 blockers suppress
gastric acid secretion. But they do it in
different ways. PPI shuts down the proton pump in
the stomach while H2 blockers block the histamine
receptors in acid-producing cells of the stomach.
PPIs have a delayed onset of action and their
effects lasts about 24 hours. H2 blockers on the
other hand start working within an hour but their
effect lasts only 12 hours.
PPIs have been a tremendous therapeutic
advancement, transforming lives of patients with
intractable acid reflux. Yet, they too have
serious side effects on long-term usage. These
include headache, diarrhoea, constipation,
abdominal pain, nausea, and rash. The artificial
blocking of stomach acid interferes with the
ability of the body to fix calcium, resulting in
osteoporosis. Increase in prevalence of pneumonia
caused by Clostridium difficile, acute nephritis,
enteritis has also been linked to the use of
PPI.
While the efficacy of PPI in
treating acid reflux has been proved
beyond doubt, they have serious side effects and
cannot be used for more than 8 weeks.
Additionally, they merely take care of the
symptoms without treating the disease. The only
way to get treatd of the disease is to go for the
holistic therapy. As noted earlier, acid reflux is
a lifestyle disease so modifications of dietary
habits, behavioral therapy, stress relief, and
weight management are all very essential. Holistic
medicine takes care of all these aspects of the
body, treating it as a whole to get rid of the
disease.
