Is Long-Term Use of Heartburn Meds Wise?

For decades, people have spent billions on such drugs as Prevacid, Prilosec and Nexium to treat heartburn; in fact, Nexium’s $6 billion in sales a year makes it one of nation’s top-selling drugs.

But stop the music. Stomach acid isn’t a bad thing — if it stays in the belly. In fact, stomach acid is necessary for proper digestion and absorption of minerals, vitamins, B-12 and nutrients, with further responsibilities in killing bad, and fostering good, bacteria in the stomach and intestinal tract.

So it should be no major surprise that using these anti-acid drugs for months, years and even decades to treat gastro-esophageal reflux disease or GERD, can cause unwanted health consequences.