Almost everyone recovering from a heart attack, heart or stent surgery is prescribed Plavix. Its benefits in reducing blood clots and therefore further heart problems appear to be significant. However, it can irritate patient’s stomachs and so it has become common practice to almost automatically give Plavix patients a proton pump inhibitor such as Prilosec. In a study just published in the prestigious medical journal – JAMA, Dr. Michael Ho scrutinized 8,200 patient records and identified that the addition of Prilosec increased the risk of a return to hospital for heart problems during the next 18 months by 25%.

Leading Doctors including Dr. Steven Nissen of Cleveland Clinic, a candidate for the role of FDA Commissioner are now saying that there should be no automatic prescription of Prilosec with Plavix and that patients should seek alternative medications to solve their stomach problems.

See http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101386673

Take this advice an important step further:

People on Plavix should look outside the aisles of drugstores that are overloaded with heartburn and stomach acid medications. Not only do these drugs now appear to increase heart risk, but they do not get to the root of the problem of heartburn and acid reflux. Instead, nature has provided us with real solutions in the forms of digestive enzymes. These enzymes are now available in health food stores and online, for example, at http://www.renewlife.com/category/enzymes.aspx