In a population-based study from Scotland, use of commonly-prescribed acid suppression medications such as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) was linked with an increased risk of intestinal infections with C. difficile and Campylobacter bacteria, which can cause considerable illness.
Compared with individuals in the community who did not take acid suppression medications, those who did had 1.7-times and 3.7-times increased risks of C. difficile and Campylobacter, respectively. Among hospitalized patients, those using the medications had 1.4-times and 4.5-times increased risks, respectively.
Although acid suppression therapy is often considered relatively free from side effects, the findings suggest that there are significant adverse gastrointestinal consequences of their use. "Users of these medications should be particularly vigilant about food hygiene as the removal of stomach acid makes them more easily infected with agents such as Campylobacter, which is commonly found on poultry," said Prof. Thomas MacDonald, senior author of the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology study.
DOI: 10.1111/bcp.13205
Maybe they should cut back on haggis and chips instead.
(Score: 3, Informative) by purple_cobra on Saturday January 07 2017, @11:02PM
"A dash of stomach acid refluxing up the throat isn't going to kill anyone..."
Not in the short-term, no. In the long-term, it's thought to be responsible for Barrett's Oesophagus, a pre-cancerous change to the lining of the oesophagus; what that actually means in practice is that this changed tissue is more likely to become cancerous than unchanged tissue. People with known Barrett's usually undergo surveillance OGD every so often (I forget the timing for this; I've not been into work since mid-September so it's all long since gone out of my memory) to make sure that the Barrett's hasn't worsened or changed to something more sinister.
If you're over 50 and get reflux suddenly without ever having it before, or not having it so frequently before, get yourself to a doctor and get an OGD done; it could be a sign of oesophagogastric cancer and unless that's diagnosed early on, it's likely to be fatal. I only work in the backroom office of a hospital so that might not be 100% what a trained medical professional will tell you; that said, if in doubt, go and see a trained medical professional.
One other example: Smoker/ex-smoker with ongoing shoulder pain and/or loss of voice from no obvious source ? Get to a doctor and get a CT chest done as there's a possibility it's lung cancer. Don't think you need to be experiencing a nasty cough, because you don't.
If you get *any* ongoing problems that don't seem to have any precipitating factors, get to a doctor and get it checked out. A lot of nasty-sounding diagnoses are survivable if caught early enough. And Dr Search-Engine isn't a good first choice.
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Saturday January 07 2017, @11:32PM
There aren't enough informative mods in the world for this post.