Desiree' Tilbury
Doctor of Pharmacy Student

You are absolutely correct. Even people who consistently ingest antacids such as Tums or others will experience a decrease in the ability of their stomach acid to kill the germs entering their body. This is because the high pH of these mechanisms works to neutralize our highly acidic and sometimes bothersome stomach acid-one of our main defenses against bacteria entering our body through foods we ingest.

The raising of the pH in this water, how I see it, is not necessarily strong enough to kill the germs therein (however, you'd have to rely on the data from the tests they have shown you to know for sure). Even so, one of the greatest defenses against killing most bacteria is maintained through the toxicity of the stomach acid to them. This, as I see it, is much more potent than anything you would put in your water, as well as the fact that it protects you from much more than just water. This definitely needs to be addressed, especially since you say it is being marketed to immunocompromised patients, you have raised a very good point.

Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center
University of Arizona College of Pharmacy, Room 244
PO Box 210207, Tucson, AZ, USA  85721-0207
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