by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

Here’s an alarming statistic. “The number of people hospitalized for conditions related to GastroEsophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) doubled between 1998 and 2005.” At the present time, “more than 20 million Americans have GERD”. (1) This has important repercussions for our ears. Let me explain.

“When you eat or drink, food and liquid move from your mouth to the esophagus, where a valve, called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), relaxes to allow the food and liquid to pass into your stomach. The lower esophageal sphincter then squeezes shut to keep stomach contents from backing up (a process known as reflux) into the esophagus.” (1)

As long as this valve stays tightly shut, you don’t have a problem. However, when it relaxes, the contents of your stomach can be forced into your esophagus and cause GERD problems there.

I just ran across an interesting article (1) that details some of the reasons for the LES relaxing. I think you’ll find it enlightening.

A number of drugs are the culprits. When doctors prescribe drugs to treat conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, depression and anxiety, the drugs they prescribe can cause GERD where none existed before.

According to Dr. Anil Minocha, drugs that can cause the lower esophageal sphincter valve to relax (and thus result in GERD) include calcium channel blockers, beta blockers, some antidepressants and some anti-anxiety drugs.

Here’s a list of several of the calcium channel blockers: Amlodipine, Diltiazem, Felodipine, Nicardipine, Nifedipine, Nisoldipine and Verapamil. The more common ototoxic side effects of these calcium channel blockers include ataxia, dizziness, tinnitus and vertigo.

Some of the beta-blockers include: Acebutolol, Atenolol, Betaxolol, Bisoprolol, Carteolol, Carvedilol, Labetalol, Metoprolol, Nadolol, Oxprenolol, Pindolol, Propranolol and Timolol. The more common ototoxic side effects of these beta-blockers include dizziness, ear pain, hearing loss, tinnitus and vertigo.

If you take any of the above drugs, you want to be aware that these (and other) drugs actually reduce lower esophageal sphincter (LES) pressure (that is, they relax this muscle located at the top of your stomach). As a result, the contents of your stomach can then back up into your esophagus, eventually resulting in GERD.

Not only are many of the drugs that help cause GERD ototoxic, but the very drugs that doctors prescribe to control GERD are also ototoxic. Thus your ears can get clobbered both coming and going.

You see, doctors often prescribe acid-reducing prescription drugs such as H2 blockers—Ranitidine (Zantac) and Famotidine (Pepcid), or proton pump inhibitors—Esomeprazole (Nexium) and Omeprazole (Prilosec) to try to control GERD.

Ranitidine is ototoxic and can cause dizziness and vertigo, while Famotidine can cause dizziness, tinnitus and vertigo. Esomeprazole—the little purple pill—can cause ataxia, dizziness, ear pain, tinnitus and vertigo, while Omeprazole can cause dizziness, tinnitus and vertigo.

Thus, when you use even more drugs to “cure” the side effects of other drugs, you can end up increasing the risk of damage to your ears (not to mention the rest of your body). Consequently, you always want to be sure the drugs you are taking aren’t causing other side effects.

Incidentally, in addition to the above drugs, certain foods also relax the LES, and thus are also conducive to causing GERD. Consequently, if you are prone to GERD, watch your intake of things like fatty foods, onions and chocolate.

Furthermore, if you are stressed out, get your stress under control BEFORE you get GERD. You see, stress also causes the LES to relax, again paving the way for GERD.

If you already have GERD, you might want to consider these 4 things:

  1. Get off any drugs that relax the LES.
  2. Cut out LES-relaxing foods.
  3. Get your stress under control.
  4. Take probiotics such as Lactobacillus acidophilus. These “friendly” bacteria reduce the harmful effects of acid in your esophagus. (1) You can naturally acquire Lactobacillus when you eat yogurt or kefir containing active (live) cultures, or you can purchase Lactobacillus tablets at your health food store.

You don’t have to let ototoxic drugs inadvertently damage your ears. To learn which drugs are (or can be) ototoxic, see “Ototoxic Drugs Exposed“. This book contains information on the ototoxicity of 763 drugs, 30 herbs and 148 chemicals.

(1) Anil Minocha, MD. “Don’t Let Heartburn Turn Deadly” In: Bottom Line Secrets, June 9, 2010.