over time. Undermining the stomach’s ability to commence a normal digestive process becomes the
genesis of an entire host of disorders.
According to a 2004 Dutch study published the Journal of the American Medical Association, several
popular heartburn medications may sharply increase the risk of pneumonia. The drugs involved are the
proton pump inhibitors: Nexium, Prilosec, Prevacid, Protonix and Aciphex, as well as the H2 receptor
antagonists: Pepcid, Zantac, Tagamet, Rotane and Axid.
There are also a large number of drugs that, in turn, cause heartburn because of acid reflux. Take for
example, ibuprofen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Originally marketed as Nurofen, it
is also known under the names Act-3, Advil, Brufen, Dorival, Herron Blue, Panafen, Motrin, Nuprin,
Ipren, Ibumetin, Ibuprom, IbuHEXAL, Moment, Ibux, Íbúfen and Ibalgin, depending on the country in
which it is sold. Mostly it is used for symptoms of arthritis, primary dysmenorrhoea, fever and as an
analgesic, especially where there is an inflammatory component. Popping the occasional Advil can lead to
years of agonizing stomach distress. This and other anti-inflammatory drugs cause stomach tissue to
tighten (but not esophagus tissue), thereby widening the esophagus passage and allowing stomach acid to
pass through Before anti-inflammatory drugs such as Advil became widely available, heartburn was rare
and was almost always related to diet. Today, up to 70 percent of all acid reflux cases may be linked to
the prolonged use of anti-inflammatory drugs. Since their introduction a few decades ago, acid reflux
disease experienced an enormous jump. This example shows once again that taking anti-inflammatory
drugs versus dealing with the causes of the health condition, is not a solution at all, but leads instead to
even bigger problems than those that existed before.
Consider the anti-cancer drugs that cause cancer. Tamoxifen, for example, is a common drug
prescribed to high-risk women to prevent breast cancer, and it is usually taken for five years. However,
research conducted in Israel found that Tamoxifen can cause cancer instead. According to a study
published in the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer, the treatment of breast cancer with
tamoxifen results in an increased risk of uterine cancer incidence and mortality. Merely substituting one
cancer for another is not a treatment option that should be offered to cancer patients.
Prozac Scandal Revealed; Antidepressants
The most favored antidepressant drug to make people “happy” is Prozac (fluoxetine). In the U.S., it is
now used by millions of people to cope with stressful living conditions. This may lead people to believe
that the drug is safe. The first studies on Prozac, however, show that the drug is not harmless after all.
Researchers from the University of California made the discovery that women who take Prozac while
pregnant are more than twice as likely to give birth to babies with defects. If the drug is still being taken
during the third trimester, the baby is nearly five times as likely to be born prematurely and twice as likely
to need the help of special-care nurseries. The baby also faces nine times the risk of having breathing
difficulties, cyanosis (lack of oxygen) during feeding and jitteriness. Other published side effects of
Prozac include the following: anxiety, significant weight loss, cardiac arrhythmia, visual disturbances,
tremors, nausea, diarrhea, asthma, arthritis, osteoporosis, stomach bleeding, loss of sex drive and
impotence.
And it gets worse. On January 2, 2005, CNN reported that an internal document purportedly from Eli
Lilly and Co. revealed that the drug maker had data more than 15 years ago showing that patients on its
antidepressant, Prozac, were far more likely to attempt suicide and show hostility than were patients on
other antidepressants. For obvious reasons, the company attempted to minimize public awareness of the
drug's side effects.