Children taking Medicines for Gastrointestinal Disorders – PPIs Lead the Way
I recently read an interesting article on prescription medications to treat gastrointestinal disorders in children. The article is based on analyses by Medco Health Solutions, a recent spin-off from Merck & Co that, ironically, operates the nation’s largest mail-order pharmacy operation. It turns out the number of children taking prescription medications to treat gastrointestinal disorders has increased significantly in the past five years. Looking at prescription drug claims of more than 575,000 insured children they found that the “number of infants and preschoolers (4 and under) taking medications to treat gastrointestinal conditions rose almost 56 percent from 2002 to 2006, and the prevalence (the proportion of children) of elementary school-age children (5-11 year olds) using these drugs increased by 31 percent during that time frame”. Based on the analysis, they estimated that more than 2 million children in the U.S. used these drugs in 2006. Not surprisingly, the most commonly prescribed gastrointestinal medications were proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) used to treat chronic acid reflux. These drugs are the second leading class of drugs sold in the U.S., trailing only lipid lowering medications in sales.
There was even an increase in the use of PPIs and H-2 blockers for infants, according to Dr. Robert Epstein, chief medical officer for Medco. "While there are babies that do require drug treatment for extreme cases of GERD (Norm’s comment: This needs to be debated) and other gastrointestinal problems, in some cases parents and physicians may be looking to medications when non-drug treatments might be adequate."
Obesity, stress and life style were cited as possible causes of this dramatic increase in kids with GERD and other intestinal ailments. Non-drug treatments cited for GERD included eating smaller, more frequent meals; avoiding food 2 to 3 hours before bed; using an elevated sleep position with the head at a 30 degree angle; and no carbonated drinks, chocolate, caffeine, and food that are high in fat or are very acidic or spicy.
What about Carbs?
If you have read my book, Heartburn Cured, you know that I agree with some, but not all of the advice above. The one piece of advice that was left out was the role of starchy carbohydrates, like pasta, breads, pastry, cakes, cookies, French fries, and hamburger buns in causing heartburn symptoms. The amount of junk food that kids eat is amazing. The key ingredient responsible for symptoms, in my opinion, is a huge amount of carbohydrates. Spreading the word about the causative role of excess carbs in acid reflux is a slow process because it challenges the current advice and standard mantra of the majority of GI doctors and the marketing blitz by big pharmaceutical companies to sell as much acid reducing medicine as possible, even to infants.
Heartburn Cured presents my theory that all these carbs lead to carbohydrate malabsorption in the small intestine (just because it’s too much to digest and absorb) and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). The overgrowing bacteria produce copious amount of gas. The gas pressurizes the small intestine and stomach leading to reflux.

My solution is to use the glycemic index to ensure that the carbs our children eat are efficiently digested and absorbed. This is the best approach to combat acid reflux.

For more information visit HeartburnCured.com