There are several types of cancer, and each of them has its different signs and symptoms and there is no denying the fact that any type of cancer can lead to death. However, today, we will focus on esophageal cancer and the heartburn medicine linked to esophageal cancer.
What Is Esophageal Cancer?
Esophageal cancer is a hollow tube that runs from your throat to your stomach. Your esophagus helps move food from the back of your throat to your stomach, where it can be broken down. Most of the time, the cells that line the esophagus inside are where esophageal cancer starts. Cancer of the esophagus can happen anywhere along its length. Esophageal cancer affects more men than women.
Esophageal cancer is the sixth most common kind of cancer that kills people worldwide. Different places have different rates of occurrence.
Heartburn Medicine Linked To Esophageal Cancer
Some heartburn drugs used to prevent esophageal cancer may cause the disease. Some medicines have well-known names, like Prilosec, Nexium, and Prevacid. They are proton pump inhibitors, which are a type of drug. PPIs should be given to everyoe with Barrett’s oesophagus. The condition is caused by long-term reflux. People with Barrett’s oesophagus are more likely to get cancer of the oesophagus.
How do proton pump inhibitors [PPI] lead to Esophageal Cancer
The study on PPI use and esophageal cancer was the biggest. More than 5% of esophageal cancer cases resulted from people taking PPIs.
People consuming PPI have higher risks of becoming cancer victims. Therefore we can conclude that long-term use of PPIs is linked to a higher risk of esophageal cancer. As a result, care should be taken with long-term PPIs.
What Do Studies Reveal About PPIS?
Since the first PPI came out, the number of people with esophageal cancer has increased. This rate has been growing and has gone up six times before it stopped. However, some people say that this study does not show a strong link between PPI use and cancer.
Other people who disagree with the study say it does not consider other possible causes. It does not take smoking, drinking, or being overweight into account.
Previous research questioned whether PPIs could prevent cancer and found that they did.
Taking PPIs is life-threatening. Hence, this has been the main reason why esophageal cancer has been increasing. Continuous use of PPIs will result in the rise of esophageal cancer cases. You should know that PPIs do not protect against esophageal cancer. Another study has found that taking PPIs can make some people twice as likely to get gastric cancer.
How Can You Prevent Esophageal Cancer?
The outlook for people with esophageal cancer has always been bad. However, more and more people are becoming aware that heartburn can signify something more serious. This, along with earlier detection, better staging tests, and better treatment, is helping people to win the battle against this silent cancer. Using natural remedies to cure heartburn is much better than medicine.
Usually, a muscle at the end of the esophagus opens to let food into the stomach and then closes to keep harmful digestive acids from coming back up. When this sphincter muscle does not work as it should, it can cause gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD. Studies have shown that people with severe GERD who have had it for a long time are more likely to get esophageal adenocarcinoma. It is therefore advisable to seek medical attention before the problems are eradicated.
Heartburn medicine might increase the risk for people who smoke or drink alcohol. However, it is advisable that you should always take precautions and avoid its occurrence.
