Impact of acid-related disorders in the United States.

Acid-related disorders are common conditions that negatively impact quality of life for a significant number of people nationwide. The pathology of these conditions involves an imbalance between acid secretion by gastric parietal cells and the ability of upper GI tract mucosa to defend against the effects of the acid. Therefore, therapy is targeted at elevating gastric pH. PPIs are used to control the effects of excessive acid secretion. This class of drugs has a unique mechanism of action that inhibits the final pathway to gastric acid secretion--the parietal cell proton pump.