The Top 10 Leading Causes of Death in The United States
NUTRITION
Part Two: The Kidney & Protein
Howard F. Loomis
Jr., DC
You may not think that doctors of chiropractic are in the business of preventing death. After all, we know you cannot prove a negative. You can’t say with authority that you have prevented someone’s death unless you are a first responder or an emergency room physician. However, you can make claims of restoring and even maintaining normal body functions.
Last month, we began our series on the leading causes of death in the United States and started with kidney disease, which is ranked ninth. I started there because the kidneys are a frequent cause of low back pain that is not related to trauma or occupational stress. In my experience, involuntary muscle contractions related to kidney stress are a major contributing factor to nontraumatic low back pain. Nerves carrying fibers that run to or from the kidneys are derived from the celiac plexus and its subdivisions, superior mesenteric ganglion, and the thoracolumbar splanchnic nerves (essentially from T10 to L2).
Proper function of the kidneys requires that they receive and adequately filter blood. The kidneys maintain homeostasis by regulating the contents of the blood plasma. It is accurate but simplistic to say that every substance that enters the body—by either ingestion or parenteral infusion—must leave the body at the same rate. Gains and losses must be balanced. Last month, we discussed the role of plasma proteins in kidney function.
Now let’s talk briefly about a cause of kidney stress that may be affecting a substantial percentage of your patients. Recent research has tied acid-blocking proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) to a host of health problems, including higher risks for kidney disease, heart disease, and dementia, which are all listed in the top ten causes of death in the US.
It appears that PPI drugs don’t just turn off acid pumps in the stomach. Instead, researchers say that PPIs also block the production of acid in every cell in our bodies, an effect that hampers the body’s ability to rid itself of damaged proteins—the “garbage” that builds up as we age. Just how could PPIs cause such damage? In studies of mice and human cells in test tubes, PPIs have been shown to negatively affect cellular lysosomes.
A lysosome is an organelle found in human cells. They are spherical in shape and contain hydrolytic (digestive) enzymes that can function in an acidic enviromuent and break down many kinds of biomolecules. Phagocytosis occurs in white blood cells, but pinocytosis is the same process in stationary cells. Lysosomes contain certain enzymes that only work under acidic conditions and they break down proteins that have become damaged.
Recall that one of the essential functions of dietary protein is to provide for growth and repair within the cells. If the lysosome enzymes cannot work due to a reduction of cellular acid, metabolic waste products and damaged proteins accumulate, so cells age more quickly than normal.
It is not my intention to rail against pharmaceutical drugs. They are essential for the treatment of pathological processes. Proton pump inhibitors are used to treat acidrelated conditions, such as:
• Esophageal, stomach, and duodenal ulcers
• NSAID-associated ulcer
• Ulcers
• Gastroesophageal reflux disease
• Zollinger-Ellison syndrome
Proton pump inhibitors block the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. First, stretching of the empty stomach stimulates the pyloric glands to release gastrin, a hormone that stimulates acid production from the parietal cells. Cells found in the oxyntic glands release histamine, which also is a powerful stimulant of the acid secretion. This can provide relief for people who have heartburn, or when stomach acid regurgitates into the esophagus.
Millions of Americans take them. Proton pump inhibitors were the eighth most commonly prescribed kind of drugs in 2016, ahead of thyroid medications.
Unfortunately, they are also purported for the prevention of these conditions and therein lies the problem. How do you prevent disease by interfering with normal function? They also are used in combination with antibiotics for treating Helicobacter pylori. However, it is well documented that one of the functions of stomach acid is to prevent bacterial growth in the stomach.
All drugs are designed to block human enzyme systems or to fill receptor sites that normally are tilled with the products of human enzyme systems. If drugs are used solely for the relief of symptoms, inevitably they will produce side effects. The most common side effects of proton pump inhibitors are:
Headache
Flatulence
Vomiting
Nausea
Abdominal pain
Diarrhea
Constipation
Fever
The drugs already carry warnings for several known risks, including C. difficile infections, which can cause chronic diarrhea, pneumonia, low magnesium levels (which can cause muscle spasms), heart palpitations and convulsions, and fractures of the hip, wrist, or spine.
Fracture risks are generally highest in people who've taken high doses of the drugs for more than one year, and PPIs are intended for short-term use. How many of your patients routinely make them part of their daily routine? How many of them routinely return for low back pain and palpable soreness in the transitional thoracolumbar area?
Next time, we’ll continue our look at the ten leading causes of death in the United States, and the causes and effects that are appropriate for doctors of chiropractic.
References:
1. Lazarus B, et ah JAMA Intern Med. 2016;doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.7193
2. SchoenfeldAJ, Grady: D. JAMA Intern Med. 2016:10.1001/ jamainternmed.2015.792 7
3. Frellick, Marcia. Top-Selling, Top-Prescribed Drugs for 2016. October 2, 2017. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/886404
Dr. Loomis has an extensive background in enzymes and enzyme supplements. He is the founder and president of the Food Enzyme Institute. His extensive knowledge of physiology, biochemistry, and enzymology has made him a sought-after speaker and a prolific writer. The Food Enzyme Institute offers seminars to healthcare practitioners around the country. Dr. Loomis published ENZYMES: The Key to Health in 1999. He also coauthored and published The Enzyme Advantage: For Healthcare Providers and People Who Care About Their Health in 2015, and The Enzyme Advantage for Women in 2016, with respected medical journalist Arnold Mann. Contact info: 6421 Enterprise Lane, Madison, WI53 719 customer service(/cbjbodenzymeinstitute.com, 800-662-2630.
