Story at a Glance
•Many pharmaceuticals on the market are automatically given to large numbers of patients despite the harms of these medications often greatly outweighing their benefits.
•One of the worst offenders are the acid suppressing medications, and their overprescription goes hand in hand with widespread medical blindness to the critical functions of hydrochloric acid throughout the body, the symptoms of low stomach acidity (e.g., many autoimmune disorders), and the actual causes of acid reflux.
•Since the stomach needs to be able to let food in but stay closed while digesting it, its opening (the LES) is pH sensitive and will close when sufficient acid is detected. Because of this, reflux is frequently due to insufficient stomach acid (the production of which declines with age) which causes the remaining acid to leak out into the esophagus. Treating reflux by eliminating all acid causes the LES to stay open, and as a result, hooks patients on the drugs since the moment any acid comes back, it will leak out and cause heartburn.
•A chronic small leak of stomach acid can create many different issues in the ears, nose, and throat (e.g., allergies, coughs, and sinusitis).
•A variety of safe and non-invasive approaches exist to address the wide range of complications from acid reflux and dysfunctional stomach acid production.
https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/stomach-acid-is-critical-for-health