Antacids are usually used to relieve problems like heartburn, indigestion, or stomach upset. They work by making stomach acid less strong.
But now, scientists have found a surprising new use for these common medicines. They may also help people who have diabetes control their blood sugar.
This new discovery was made by researchers at the University of Maryland. They found that antacids can help lower blood sugar levels when used along with regular diabetes treatments.
This is important because diabetes, especially type 2 diabetes, affects millions of people all around the world. Nearly 10 out of every 100 people worldwide have this condition. Managing diabetes often involves eating healthy food, exercising, and sometimes taking medications or insulin to control blood sugar.
In the study, the scientists found that when people with diabetes added antacids to their usual treatment, their blood sugar levels got even better. They looked at something called hemoglobin A1c (also called HbA1c), which shows the average level of sugar in the blood over the past 2 or 3 months.
Lower HbA1c means better blood sugar control. They also checked fasting blood sugar, which is the sugar level after not eating overnight.
To understand how well antacids work, the scientists studied results from many past studies. This is called a meta-analysis. They focused on a type of antacid called proton pump inhibitors, or PPIs. These are strong antacids that many people can buy without a prescription.
The researchers looked at 7 studies with 342 people who already had diabetes. They also looked at 5 other large studies with more than 244,000 people to see if antacids could stop diabetes from starting in people who did not have it yet.
For those with diabetes, antacids helped lower HbA1c by 0.36%. They also lowered fasting blood sugar by 10 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL). These changes might seem small, but even small improvements can make a big difference in long-term health for people with diabetes.
However, for people who did not already have diabetes, taking antacids did not lower their chances of getting the disease. So, this benefit seems to help only those who already have high blood sugar.
The scientists say that doctors could think about this new benefit when giving antacids to people who have both stomach problems and diabetes. This could help those patients manage both conditions at the same time.
This research was led by Dr. Carol Chiung-Hui Peng and her team. It was published in a respected medical journal called the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. The study shows how an old medicine can have a new use, which might help millions of people living with diabetes.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about bananas and diabetes, and honey could help control blood sugar.
For more health information, please see recent studies about Vitamin D that may reduce dangerous complications in diabetes and results showing plant-based protein foods may help reverse type 2 diabetes.
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