Popular Stomach Meds Causing CANCER?!

If you’ve never dealt with acid reflux, count our lucky stars.

For millions of people suffering from acid reflux, the heartburn, indigestion, and bloating have become an uncomfortable way of life.

If that’s you, you’ve probably taken—or are taking—proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) like Prilosec and Prevacid to help ease your symptoms.

The fact that these drugs have become household names might make you think they’re perfectly safe.

They’re not.

A recently study has shown that these drugs are not just harmful… they could be deadly.

Researchers in Sweden conducted a study on every single adult in the country prescribed a PPI between 2005 and 2012. That added up to nearly 800,000 people.

When they compared the cancer rates of those taking PPIs to the rest of the population, the connection was clear:

Those taking PPIs had a higher rate of esophageal cancer.

The irony of this finding is that these drugs are prescribed to people with Barrett’s esophagus (a condition caused by long-term acid reflux) to help REDUCE the risk of this type of cancer.

I wish I could say that this was the first study to question the benefit—and the risks—of PPIs…but it’s not.

• A study published in the Archives of Surgery back in 2011 found that people taking PPIs had an increased risk of esophageal cancer.

• A study published in PLoS One found that PPIs did not reduce the risk of esophageal cancer in patients with Barrett’s esophagus.

• And a study published last year in the journal Gut found that some people who took PPIs had double the risk of gastric cancer. The longer they took the drugs, the higher their risk.

I understand that heartburn is a common—and incredibly painful—problem for many older adults. But please don’t fall into the trap of taking heartburn drugs that 1) Don’t solve the problem, and 2) Could have devastating consequences.

Here’s what to do instead.

Besides staying away from problem foods and drinking less with meals, I always recommend supplementing with magnesium, since a deficiency is one of the root causes of acid reflux.

Take a chelated magnesium like magnesium glycinate in a dosage of 200-800 mg per day.

To a brighter day,

Dr. Richard Gerhauser, M.D.