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Indigestion remedies are linked to fractures


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#1 stocks

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Posted 28 December 2006 - 12:07 PM

http://www.timesonli...2519712,00.html

Taking potent drugs to combat indigestion can increase the risk of breaking hip and other bones, researchers say.

Drugs that restrict the production of acid in the stomach are among the most effective and best-selling treatments in the world, with sales worth more than £7 billion a year.

But a study of nearly 150,000 British patients by American researchers found that they increased the risk of hip fracture by as much as 44 per cent.

The study, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests that taking proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) may decrease cal-cium absorption or bone dens- ity in certain patients, leading to increased risk of fractures.

Many of the one in twenty people who visit doctors in Britain each year complaining of heartburn are prescribed acid-suppressive drugs — or PPIs — to alleviate their problems. Prescriptions for PPIs such as omeprazole — sold under the brand names Losec, Prilosec and Zegerid — rose by more than 5,000 per cent during the 1990s.
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#2 maineman

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Posted 28 December 2006 - 02:34 PM

Before the development of the PPIs, patients with ulcers had one option. Surgical removal of half or more of thier stomach and surgical destruction of the nerves that control acid production on the stomach wall. THere is also a subset of patients with Zollinger Ellison syndrome where the body makes enormous amounts of acid. Usually these people show up with bleeding ulcers and esophageal erosion by 8 years old. When I as in residency our chief of medicine was the leading man in the country on ulcers and acidity (wrote the book). We were given a new, nameless drug, to use on these extreme cases. It worked. We were in awe. Almost overnight the brutal surgical procedure was no more. Overnight hyperacidic patients were acid, pain and ulcer free. This drug was Prilosec. I'm getting old. Prilosec is now over the counter. The other drugs available are basically identical, just made by competing drug companies. Here's the problem: In a free, capitalistic society everything is available. You watch TV? Do you really need a new car every year? A 50 inch plasma TV? Whiter whites? Meatier Pizza? Weight loss pills, vitamin pills, Term Life Insurance? Etc. Etc..... the ads are awful and relentless. But you have the right to choose and turn the ads off. Or educate yourself. Then there's ethics. If you are opposed to smoking, do stop reading any magazine that has cigarette ads? When Exxon ruined Alaska with oil, did you stop driving your car? If you are for women's rights, do stop eating Domino's Pizza because he gives all his money to anti abortion groups? In medicine the ACP and AMA are firmly against pharmaceutical companies soliciting doctors. I agree. Yet in my community there are doctors who get free lunch DAILY for themselves and thier staffs from the drug salesmen. I do not. Recently at a kid's soccer game I was chatting with one of the other fathers I did not know. When I introduced myself he said, "Oh you're the doc who hates drug reps!" (turns out he's a sales rep... quite a reputation to have, don't you think?) If Ford offered you a free tank of gas once a month as long as you bought a new Ford once a year, would you do it? Funny thing, ethics. So, what I'm saying is that while Prilosec is a God Send drug for some serious medical problems, it is, in my opinion, unethical and morally wrong for the company to market it over the counter for simple heartburn, which can be treated with diet, quitting smoking, cutting out alchohol, etc. FInally, never forget that around the world people spend FAR more money on OTC medications, herbs, vitamins and supplements than they do on prescription drugs. MUCH more, Billions more. mm
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#3 stocks

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Posted 28 December 2006 - 02:57 PM

Doc MM, Thanks for the great work you do and the information you provide to this forum. I admit I sometimes make posts just to learn from your reaction. You gain credibility when you criticize your profession; even in a small way. (Now if you would just start taking vitamin D pills. :)) mike
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Defenders of the status quo are always stronger than reformers seeking change, 
UNTIL the status quo self-destructs from its own corruption, and the reformers are free to build on its ashes.