The risk of intestinal infection is caused by stomach acid inhibitors

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns that some stomach acid inhibitors lead to an increased risk of serious intestinal bacterial infections for users.

These drugs, including Nexium, Prilosec, Prevacid, Zegerid (and some others, have been listed as Proton pump inhibitors), are used to treat acid reflux, stomach ulcers and a Other symptoms, by reducing the amount of acid in the stomach

Gastric acid helps intestinal tract antibacterial diarrhea (Photo: Livescience)

Dr. Edith R. Lederman in an interview on the health website MyHealthNewsDaily said, 'stomach acid plays a very important role in protecting the body against pathogens and killing bacteria'. .

Therefore, users may suffer from Clostridium difficile caused by diarrhea. According to Lederman's research, nearly half of 485 patients were admitted to a health center during the past four years, and those with C. difficile had a history of acid inhibitors. Most are one of two proton pump inhibitors (PPI) like Prilosec, Prevacid, or histamine-2 antagonists, such as Tagamet, Zantac.

In particular, 23 patients died of another sepsis causing their diarrhea, 19 of them took prescription stomach acid inhibitors for a period of 90 days before hospitalization.

The FDA is currently working with manufacturers including information on drug labels about increased risk with PPI use. Even drugs that inhibit H2 histamine receptors.

Reportedly, PPI ranks third in the best-selling drug group in the US, as of 2010, according to data from consumer reports.