Researches are on worldwide, about the serious effect of PPIs on the gut bacteria in humans, and this needs close understanding by those who are already suffering from the problemof acid reflux and are undergoing treatment through substantial or prolonged use of PPIs.
What are PPIs?
PPIs are proton pump inhibitors. This is a class of medicines which are marketed under the common names of rabeprazole, omeprazole, lansoprazole, pantoprazole, and so on. These groups of medicines are highly popular and prescribed, and can be listed among the top 10 medicines globally that are used by people.
The role of proton pump inhibitors is to reduce thesecretion of acids for digestion. They can react with the body to help make the body acidsfor digestion in reduced quantities. And that is why this group of medicines are prescribed or used as over the counter drugs by patients suffering from acid reflux, heartburn, and extreme acidity. In fact patients get relief from extreme heartburn and chronic acid reflux and GERD from the continuous use of PPIs.
What is the gut microbiome?
The gut microbiome or gut flora is the community of microorganisms which stays inside the human body lining the entire tract of the gut, starting from the mouth to the anus. The microbiome has a special role in absorption of processed food, and gets highly active inside the small intestine where nutrients from the processed food is absorbed. The microbiome in the small intestine enables in maintaining a balance in the body and digestive process. There are millions ofgood bacteria in there, which ensures the food gets processed properly.
How PPIs have been affecting the gut microbiome?
The gut microbiome gets affected when the acid in the stomach releases in alower amount due to the influence of the PPIs. In this case many of the bacteria in the food, which are harmful and actually normally were killed by the right amount of stomach acid levels, don’t get killed and cleaned. Many of the harmful bacteria stays active in the food chyme as it passes through the mall intestine. This is a majorproblem. That’s because many of the bad bacteria, which are dangerous to the human health makes their way through the intestines, and can cause serious infections. Salmonella, E. Coli, and Clostridium difficile are some of the names of bad bacteria which are harmful for the body. Among them C. difficile is one of the major concerns for people worldwide at present.
The danger from CDI
CDI or C. difficile infection is a serious concern which induces diarrhea and illness in many cases. And it has been observed that the prolonged use of proton pump inhibitors affect themicrobiome, by increasing risk of colonization of the C. difficile and other pathogens in the gut, which can create many illnesses and infections in the body. That’s why the relation of PPI and CDI are being researched by many groups of researchers worldwide to known exactly how much use of PPIs over what period can be dangerous for the gut flora.
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