It‘s no secret that proton pump inhibitors (or PPIs) like Prevacid, Prilosec, and Nexium are cash cows. These drugs -- which work by masking your symptoms instead of solving the problem -- pull in billions for Big Pharma. And believe it or not, your local hospital might be adding to the problem.
You see, many patients who get admitted to hospitals these days get a PPI to treat or even just to PREVENT heartburn. I guess given the state of hospital food, I shouldn‘t be surprised.
But if you pop a purple pill during your next hospital stay, you may be getting more than you bargained for.
A new study out by the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that men and women who got a PPI during their hospital stay were also MORE likely to get hospital-acquired pneumonia. In fact, if you got a PPI, you were 30 percent more likely to also get pneumonia (compared to other patients who didn‘t take a PPI)!
Talk about two for the price of one!
I can see the slogan now: "Come see us…not only will you get a PPI, you‘ll also get pneumonia!"
All sarcasm aside, here‘s the bottom line, folks: make sure you ask your nurse about every pill you take during any hospital stay. If he or she tries to push a heartburn pill onto you "just in case," make sure to say thanks, but no thanks. You don’t want to wind up getting pneumonia on top of everything else!
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