# Can someone explain proton pump inhibitors to me? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2016, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-proton-pump-inhibitors-to-me/773615 "2016-12-02T08:13:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-proton-pump-inhibitors-to-me/773615/1 "2016-12-02T08:13:39Z")
I have to take Omeprazole pretty much every day because of a chronic stomach condition. When reading about the long term effects of this I see a lot of conflicting information. Some sources say that it prevents secretion of stomach acid and reduces it as much as 99%. Other sources say that actually your stomach still produces acid but it blocks the burning sensation in the oesophagus so you don’t feel it, and apparently because it’s still burning it can increase risk of cancer. And how the hell does the stomach still manage to digest food if acid is reduced 99% ? Isn’t stomach acid an essential part of our digestive process? And why exactly is it called a “proton pump” inhibitor? What’s pumping protons inside me that needs inhibiting? How do you even pump a proton? So many questions… ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-proton-pump-inhibitors-to-me/773615/2 "2016-12-02T11:13:35Z")
Addressing some of your questions, cell membranes provide the benefit of keeping what is outside the cell outside the cell and what is inside the cell inside the cell. But sometimes you need to bring something from the outside in, or send something from the inside out. For that, the cell membrane (and the membranes of organelles inside of cells) have embedded proteins that act doorways–or you could call them “pumps”. Pumping protons is at the very base of life on Earth, key to both respiration and photosynthesis. Look at the illustrations on [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_transport_chain) wiki. Every place you see an “H+” with arrows, that is a proton being moved through a pump. A drug that inhibits _all_ of your proton pumps would quickly kill the heck out of you. Fortunately, the drugs you are taking effect only [one specific class](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_potassium_ATPase) of them. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-proton-pump-inhibitors-to-me/773615/3 "2016-12-02T11:27:49Z")
Thanks for that, helps me understand. However the page on Hydrogen potassium ATPase raises even more questions. Am I right in thinking the proton pump inhibitor drugs in this case prevent formation of acid, but they don’t prevent the activation of pepsin? So even though I have a lot less stomach acid, my food is still being digested acceptably by enzymes like Pepsin, chymotrypsin and trypsin? Are people that take proton pump inhibitors of this type at higher risk of food poisoning because there is less acid to kill potential harmful bacteria in our food? ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-proton-pump-inhibitors-to-me/773615/4 "2016-12-02T15:36:24Z")
Digestion really happens in the small intestine, not the stomach. The main function of the stomach is just to serve as a sort of holding tank for a meal, and release it slowly and gradually in small quantities, or boluses, into the small intestine. Secondarily, it also gets the process started by denaturing proteins with stomach acid, but the proteins are really digested by proteases in the small intestine. ---
**Author:** ![doubleminus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@doubleminus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doubleminus)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-proton-pump-inhibitors-to-me/773615/5 "2016-12-02T21:57:03Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > T > Are people that take proton pump inhibitors of this type at higher risk of food poisoning because there is less acid to kill potential harmful bacteria in our food? IANAD. Yes. Not hugely so, but yes. There are other risks in long-term PPI treatment also. But there are conditions, like _Barrett’s esophagus_ that require this treatment. Occasional use is considered benign. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2023, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-proton-pump-inhibitors-to-me/773615/6 "2023-08-13T22:01:36Z")
Some recent bad news about them: > **[Long-term Acid Reflux Drugs Linked to Higher Dementia Risk? - Neuroscience News](https://neurosciencenews.com/dementia-acid-reflux-meds-23780/)** > > Long-term use (over 4.4 years) of proton pump inhibitors, prescribed for acid reflux, may be associated with an increased risk of dementia. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2023, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-proton-pump-inhibitors-to-me/773615/7 "2023-08-13T22:10:23Z")
It was invented by Ray and Egon.