End Fatigue

Antacids- Another Cause of Osteoporosis

Millions of individuals who suffer from heartburn take acid-suppressing medications such as Prevacid, Prilosec and Nexium for relief.

This is a problem for many reasons, and is an unnecessary one as indigestion can be effectively treated naturally. A study published in the December 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that high doses of these medications, called proton pump inhibitors (PPI), over a long period of time, can lead to increased risk of hip fractures.

The researchers report that people who used PPIs for more than one year increased their risk of hip fractures by 44 percent.

Moreover, the risk was more than 2½ times higher among long-term users of high-dose PPI therapy, showing that both the amount of PPIs the patients took and the period of time for which they took them affected their risk of hip fracture.

Experts speculate that the medications decrease acid in the stomach, making it more difficult for the body to absorb bone-building calcium. When this happens, osteoporosis occurs, increasing fracture risk.

And bones affected by osteoporosis can fracture with only a minor fall or injury.

Osteoporosis afflicts an estimated 25 million people in the United States and accounts for approximately 1.5 million new fractures each year.