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THURSDAY, June 6, 2019 (HealthDay News) – A new study suggests that people who use common medications for heartburn for months or years are more likely to die from heart disease. 39, kidney failure or stomach cancer.
The study included more than 200,000 American veterans. This is the latest one to raise concerns about drugs called proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). They include prescription and over-the-counter medications such as Prilosec (omeprazole), Prevacid (lansoprazole) and Nexium (esomeprazole). And they rank among the best-selling drugs in the United States.
Research in recent years has linked prolonged use of PPIs with increased risks of various diseases and premature deaths.
These latest findings indicate the specific causes of drug-related deaths, said lead researcher Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly.
He pointed out that the excess risks were relatively small. For example, in the last 10 years, 13% of PPI users have died of cardiovascular disease, including heart disease or stroke. This compared to just over 11% of people who used H2 blockers, another class of heartburn medications.
When researchers weighed other factors, such as age of patients and chronic health problems, the use of PPIs was linked to a higher cardiovascular death risk of approximately 18%.
However, based on the patients' medical records, many of those with PPI prescriptions had no documented need.
"It's troubling," said Al-Aly, an assistant professor in the faculty of medicine at the University of Washington in St. Louis.
"It suggests that many people were using a PPI without really needing it," he said. "They could take a risk without benefiting from it."
But an expert not involved in the study explained that it was not clear whether PPIs themselves are responsible for higher mortality rates.
Dr. Lawrence Kim is a member of the board of directors of the American Gastroenterological Association. He said that the current study, like others before, is "observational" – that is, that she was using medical records to track patient outcomes.
These types of studies can not prove the cause and effect, Kim said. There may be other explanations for the higher risks observed among IPP users.
According to Kim, the Gastroenterology Association has published in 2017 a review of the research on the subject.
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