The Lowly Appendix & The Arrogance of Medicine
I remember when medicine regarded parietal cells, that make stomach acid and turn on all the downstream events of digestion, as only problematic. Practically useless.
The standard-of-care thought has been lets give most maldigestive patients meds to shut up these cells.
In came the use of ubiquitous proton pump inhibitor prescriptions.
Up until newer Association of Gastroenterology guidelines tried to emphasize only using them for 6 weeks, the common prescriptive thought had been, most gut patients can practically “live on em’”.
Medicine even now often prescribes proton pump inhibitors to babies that spit up.
What babies don’t spit up?
Proton pump inhibitors act by blocking proton pumps.
Parietal cells use proton pumps to manufacture stomach acid (betaine hydrochloride).
But we need proton pumps in many tissues. To keep many diverse tissues thriving.
From brain. To kidneys. To more.
Babies’ brain tissue has multiple proton pumps to help it grow so much. So rapidly.
When we give proton pumps to babies’ it is not just parietal cell proton pumps that are tamped down. But proton pumps all over babies’ body. Especially in the brain.
In lots of other tissues, too. Like developing renal filters (glomeruli).