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Re: Why is it that proton pump medications do not work for everyo...

From: Dennis Wilcox,M.D.
Date: 08/30/00
Time: 03:29:54

Comments

Thanks for the compliment. A few people do not have suppression of their stomach acid on PPIs and we do not really understand why. The reason that some people do not have their acid reflux symptoms relieved on acid suppression drugs is that their symptoms are not from acid in the first place. If one does the science and studies the patient with pH and motility studies the reason usually becomes clear. GERD is not all acid. It is stomach juice, which refluxes into the esophagus from a faulty lower esophageal sphincter. The PPI does not treat this it only changes the pH of the stomach juice.

Last changed: January 11, 2008