Heartburn Medications May Not Help Asthma Sufferers
For many years now, asthma patients have been put on heartburn medication for relief of some of their symptoms. Heartburn medications are readily available with and without a prescription, making them the easy source to go to for some kind of relief. Nevertheless, recent studies suggest that the effects of heartburn medication on asthma patients may not be as significant as people once assumed. In fact, they may not exist at all.
The theory behind the use of heartburn medications for asthma patients was that small amounts of stomach acid may be a partial cause for breathing problems during asthma attacks. The acid supposedly dripped into air passageways during reflux and caused a patient not to be able to breathe. There were mixed feelings about this theory in the medical community, so a team of experts at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the city of Boston decided to combine different research findings to make an actual conclusion.
The team compiled eleven studies of asthma patients with and without heartburn, and all of the studies passed the gold standard. The results showed that the participants in the study did in fact show a change in the air capacities in their bodies after they used a heartburn medication, but the changes that they showed were so insignificant that the researchers could barely detect them on the exhalation tests.
Participants who had frequent heartburn seemed to experience higher levels of change, but it is unclear if those two facts are related or not. Since only 7% of the population has asthma and 33% has some kind of heartburn problem, it is logical to assume that many asthma sufferers will also have heartburn related issues. This is one of the most common digestive complaints in the medical world, and it is growing on a regular basis because of the fast food diet that plagues modern society.
Because heartburn medication has a limited effect on asthma, it may not be worth the cost to be on a regular heartburn regimen. You can spend $400 a year or more just on heartburn medication, and you may not be doing much for your asthma as a result. Researchers also found that there was a mild risk of stomach infections, bone thinning and pneumonia when taking heartburn medications. This may not be much to worry about, but it is another reason to avoid heartburn medications.
Researchers do not recommend a regular use of heartburn medication for people who purely want it for asthma relief. Those who actually have heartburn issues can continue using this for their problems, but it may not be beneficial enough for asthma sufferers to rely on it. Future research will lead to more conclusions on this matter.
