FOR ME, there was life before Prilosec, and I wasn't sure there would ever be life after.
I had my first taste of acid reflux at age 12, after some particularly greasy school cafeteria fries. It was hot and sour, like someone squirted soap at the back of my throat. My mom gave me a Tums from her personal stash. By college I was chugging Maalox, stacking the empty bottles along my dorm-room windowsill like beer cans. It was funny to me, but my doctor had a more sobering take: I had all the telltale signs of gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, and I'd need to get it under control before it led to something even more serious, like ulcers or esophageal cancer.
He prescribed me omeprazole.
It was as though a light switched on or, more accurately, like a tap shut off. Omeprazole is a proton pump inhibitor, or PPI, which blocks the enzymes in the stomach that produce acid. For someone like me, whose gut churns out acid like Nicolas Cage makes movies, PPIs can be a life changer. In 2003, when omeprazole went over the counter as Prilosec OTC, I started taking it daily.
PPIS, which also include Nexium, are prescribed as 14-day treatments-OTC versions say so right on the box. But the convenience of PPIs, along with their unparalleled ability to relieve heartburn, is enough to keep users like me coming back for years. Maybe even for life.
Unfortunately, that long-term usage might also lead to serious problems. The Food and Drug Administration warns that long-term PPI users have an increased risk of bone fractures and low magnesium levels, which can cause muscle spasms, seizures, and irregular heartbeat. Studies have linked PPIs to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, infections like C. difficile, depression, and dementia. Thousands of pending lawsuits accuse PPI makers of contributing to kidney disease, kidney failure, and wrongful death.
Denne historien er fra March 2023-utgaven av Men's Health US.
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Denne historien er fra March 2023-utgaven av Men's Health US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Say What? - Hearing loss isn't just a thing that happens to your parents. Nearly one in five people in their 20s show signs of it already. And it puts your brain and well-being in danger, too. Luckily, new tech can help. Listen up.
Hearing loss isn't just a thing that happens to your parents. Nearly one in five people in their 20s show signs of it already. And it puts your brain and well-being in danger, too. Luckily, new tech can help. Listen up. An estimated 15 percent of American adults-that's about 38 million peoplehave some level of hearing loss, according to the CDC. Research increasingly suggests that untreated hearing loss can lead to other significant health issues, including depression and Alzheimer's disease.
Back-Round Check! - Tap into next-level total-body strength and supercharge muscle gains by learning when and how) to round your back in the gym.
Lift with your legs, not with your back. It's a cue many trainers use anytime you bend down to lift something heavy. It makes sense, too, since conventional wisdom holds that rounding your back with heavy weight leads to injury. But if you look closely at a strongman like Tom Stoltman hoisting a 300-kilogram (661-pound) Atlas stone, you'll notice that his spine isn't ramrod straight at all. Instead, he's almost hunching forward, curling his entire spine around the stone. And if you scroll fitness social media long enough, you may come across an exercise called the Jefferson curl, which asks you to stand holding a light barbell, then lower the barbell while simultaneously rounding your back as much as possible.
Christian Mccaffrey is Him - He's entering his eighth season in the NFL, but the league's most electric running back is not slowing down.
Every off-season for the past seven years, Christian McCaffrey, the San Francisco 49ers' All-Pro running back, has met up with Brian Kula, C.S.C.S., a trainer he's worked with since eighth grade. They talk about any injuries and any niggling pain from the previous season, do a battery of strength and movement tests, and then create a program "to turn CMC back on."
A Merciless Sun
Just over a year ago, Kekoa Lansford watched from a hilltop as the Maui wildfires incinerated his hometown.
TREN NATION
HOW AN OBSCURE BUVINE STEROID BECAME GYM GEN Z'S FAVORITE SOCIAL-MEDIA MUSCLE FLEX.
ARE YOU THERE, GOD? IT'S ME, JAKE
How societal menace and serial disrupter JAKE PAUL is trying to change the sport of boxing, influence influencer culture, and, gulp, maybe change the world, too.
THE REINVENTED QUARTERBACK
A 2023 bookended by injuries pushed the Bengals' JOE BURROW to reconstruct his entire approach to fitness and nutrition.
THE WRECKING BALL WIDEOUT
DK METCALF pursues an old-school path to hardcore strength: PUSH. YOUR. LIMITS.
FATHERHOOD BUT WITH QUESTION MARKS
I've always wondered if I'm a good dad. So I did something drastic: I asked my kids.
CAN MARVEL REGAIN ITS SUPERPOWERS?
Critical savaging. Box-office meh-ness. Cultural irrelevance. How did the MCU lose its dominance over all screens, and what will it take to restore it?
