INTERNATIONAL COALITION FOR DRUG AWARENESS. How can the proton pump inhibitor omeprazole cause vitamin B12 (cobalamin) deficiency and thereby increase the risk for macrocytic anemia, hyperhomocysteinemia, and/or neuropathy? The chronic use of proton pump inhibitors, such as omeprazole (Prilosec), is fairly common in medical practice especially for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or in patients at increased risk of peptic ulcer disease (PUD).
The increased utilization of omeprazole is also likely due to its availability over-the-counter (OTC) and use without a prescription or knowledge of the healthcare professionals caring for that patient. While omeprazole is useful for GERD and PUD, its use is not without the increased risk of other complications, such as an increased risk for aspiration pneumonia in certain patients, clinically relevant drug-drug interactions, and complications related to vitamin B12 deficiency, such as macrocytic anemia, hyperhomocysteinemia, and/or neuropathies.1-7 The focus of this newsletter publication is related to the mechanism by which omeprazole could cause a deficiency in vitamin B12.
Take Home Points: References: Institute of Medicine. Omeprazole therapy causes malabsorption of cyanocobalamin (vitamin ... The Statin Insanity. The medical student was confused.
"Well, that's not good. " He was seeing, in black and white, the benefits and harms of statin medicines. After years of systematic inculcation about the power of cholesterol reduction, this was the first time he had seen the numbers. "I don't get it. I thought cholesterol was the big player in heart attacks.
" Not really. "Seriously? " Indeed. "I've never heard that. " It gets worse: When the completed, 30-year data from the study was analyzed, in most age groups high cholesterol wasn't associated with more deaths. "Now wait. Actually, heart disease deaths started dropping 40 years ago and the rate of that decline is completely unchanged since statins came into widespread use. "This is insane. " It is also insane that medical schools around the country do not teach the failures of the cholesterol model of heart disease. The American Heart Association's new guideline changes things most dramatically, however, for people who derive even less benefits.
11-02-2013 - Antibiotic Damage Requires Antioxidants That Are Banned from Hospitals. Today's Wellness Tip From the Future...with Dr.
Carolyn Dean Aloha, What follows is a story woven by three recent articles showing the continuing decline in American medicine and health care. In a July, 2013 article in Science News, titled " New Insights Into How Antibiotics Damage Human Cells Suggest Novel Strategies for Making Long-Term Antibiotic Use Safer", researchers admit that therapeutic levels of antibiotics can cause oxidative stress that can damage DNA, enzyme systems, proteins and cell membranes in human cells. But they say the good news is that these effects can be alleviated by antioxidants. The study tested three antibiotics ciprofloxacin, ampicillin, kanamycin that are known to cause oxidative stress in human cells. Mitochondria are "cellular power plants" generating most of the body's energy called ATP. The researchers say there are two solutions.
Magnesium is my top choice as antioxidant and when you consider the facts, antibiotics cause magnesium depletion. SUBSCRIBE! FDA Expands Advice on Statin Risks. Get Consumer Updates by E-mail Consumer Updates RSS Feed On this page If you’re one of the millions of Americans who take statins to prevent heart disease, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has important new safety information on these cholesterol-lowering medications.
FDA is advising consumers and health care professionals that: Routine monitoring of liver enzymes in the blood, once considered standard procedure for statin users, is no longer needed. This new information should not scare people off statins, says Amy G. FDA will be changing the drug labels of popular statin products to reflect these new concerns. The statins affected include: Altoprev (lovastatin extended-release)Crestor (rosuvastatin)Lescol (fluvastatin)Lipitor (atorvastatin)Livalo (pitavastatin)Mevacor (lovastatin)Pravachol (pravastatin)Zocor (simvastatin).
Products containing statins in combination with other drugs include: back to top Liver Injury Called Rare Reports of Memory Loss The Risk of Diabetes. Statin-Associated Memory Loss: Results. Chronic Cough as a Complication of Statins: Discussion.