Proton Pump Inhibitors Decrease Diversity in Gut Microbiome, Increase Risk for Complications 

Before reaching for that daily antacid, you might consider what it’s doing to the trillions of bugs living in your gut. A new Mayo Clinic study in the open access journal Microbiome shows that people who regularly take proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have less diversity among their gut bacteria, putting them at increased risk for infections like clostridium difficile and pneumonia, in addition to vitamin deficiencies and bone fractures. Study coauthor, Dr. Nicholas Chia comments.