Mr. Lau, a 38-year-old salesman, often drinks for social, causing an upset stomach. Three years ago, after he finished a meal, he had unbearable stomach pain, so he took his father's omeprazole and ate it. Unexpectedly, after taking this medicine, the stomach pain was quickly relieved. Since then, every time he has a stomach ache, he habitually takes omeprazole.
Recently, he has noticed that his stomach pain is getting more frequent and that he is not getting better after taking omeprazole. He was worried about what serious illness he had, so he went to the hospital for a check-up. The result surprised him, he actually had stomach cancer, and it was already in the middle and advanced stages. The doctor told him that he had been taking omeprazole for a long time, which masked the early symptoms of stomach cancer, causing him to miss the best time.
Omeprazole is a common drug that inhibits gastric acid, and has a certain effect on hyperacidity, gastritis, gastric ulcer, Helicobacter pylori infection and other diseases. Many people use it as a household medicine and take it on their own whenever they have an upset stomach. But is omeprazole really okay to eat casually?
Omeprazole is a proton pump inhibitor, which works by inhibiting the proton pump on the cells of the stomach parietal and blocking the secretion of gastric acid, thereby reducing the acidity in the stomach and alleviating stomach discomfort. It is currently one of the most powerful gastric acid suppressants, but because of this, its *** and risks cannot be ignored.
Last year, the National Health Commission issued the "Second Batch of National Key Monitoring and Rational Use of Drugs Catalogue", omeprazole became one of them, and many provinces and cities have also included omeprazole in the scope of key monitoring. This is because the abuse and overdose of omeprazole has become a common problem, bringing potential harm to the health of patients.
Long-term use of omeprazole may lead to the following four major consequences:
Omeprazole will reduce the secretion of gastric acid, affect the absorption of calcium, iron and other minerals, and increase the risk of osteoporosis and anemia;
Omeprazole will change the microecological environment in the stomach, so that some harmful bacteria and viruses cannot be killed by gastric acid, increasing the risk of infection in the respiratory tract, digestive tract and other parts;
Omeprazole inhibits the absorption of vitamin B12, which is an important substance in hematopoiesis and nervous system, and vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to megaloblastic anemia and neurological lesions;
Omeprazole will cause gastric acid secretion to be at a low level for a long time, resulting in gastric mucosal atrophy, increased gastrin levels in the stomach, stimulating gastric mucosal cell proliferation, forming gastric polyps, and even increasing the risk of gastric cancer.
Although omeprazole has so many *** and risks, it does not mean that it cannot be used. As long as you follow the doctor's instructions and instructions and use omeprazole correctly, you can still receive good results. Here are some precautions for using omeprazole:
Omeprazole should not be used in such populations
Omeprazole should not be used by breastfeeding women, because omeprazole will enter the baby's body through breast milk and affect the baby's healthy development;
Omeprazole should not be used in patients with severely impaired renal function because omeprazole is mainly excreted by the kidneys, and patients with renal insufficiency are prone to drug accumulation and toxicity;
Omeprazole should not be used in patients taking antiplatelet drugs such as clopidogrel after cardiac stent or bypass surgery because omeprazole decreases the effectiveness of clopidogrel and increases the risk of thrombosis.
2. The time and method of taking the medicine are very important
It is generally recommended to take omeprazole half an hour before breakfast, or once in the morning and once in the evening, so as to achieve the best acid suppression effect. If it is an enteric-coated capsule or enteric-coated tablet, it must be swallowed whole, not chewed or broken, otherwise it will destroy the enteric-coated property of the drug and affect the efficacy of the drug.
3. Treatment course control is very important
The course of treatment of omeprazole generally depends on the condition, the course of treatment for gastric ulcer is 6 to 8 weeks, the course of treatment for duodenal ulcer is 4 to 6 weeks, the course of treatment for reflux esophagitis is 4 to 8 weeks, and the course of treatment for gastrinoma is long-term use. It is generally not recommended to take it for more than 8 weeks unless specifically instructed by a doctor. An excessively long course of treatment will increase the occurrence of *** and will also lead to drug dependence and tolerance.
4. Avoid interactions with other drugs
Omeprazole may interact with other drugs to affect the efficacy of the drug or increase adverse effects. Omeprazole will increase the blood concentration of aspirin, statins, nifedipine drugs, and increase its toxicity Omeprazole will reduce the blood concentration of domperidone, calcium carbonate, clopidogrel and other drugs, and reduce their efficacy; Omeprazole can also affect the metabolism of warfarin, increasing its blood concentration and bleeding risk.
5. Regular gastroscopy
Although omeprazole can relieve stomach symptoms, it cannot ** stomach lesions, and sometimes even mask some serious diseases, such as stomach cancer. Therefore, for patients who have been taking omeprazole for a long time, gastroscopy should be performed regularly to detect and ** gastric lesions in time to avoid delaying the condition.
In conclusion, omeprazole is an effective stomach acid suppressant, but it is not a panacea and is not harmless. We should use omeprazole reasonably under the guidance of a doctor, pay attention to its indications, dose, course of treatment, time, method, interaction, etc., to avoid adverse consequences. At the same time, we should also pay attention to improving our eating habits and lifestyle to reduce stomach irritation and protect the health of the stomach.
Omeprazole