This summer, a study published in the online journal BMJ Open 1 revealed that long-term use of commonly-prescribed proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) was associated with a higher risk of early death. Lisa Patient looks at what recent research says about both PPIs and acid reflux
Sometimes prescribed for the treatment of gastric ulcers, bacterial infection Helicobacter pylori, and diseases such as Barrett’s oesophagus (a non-cancerous complication of chronic acid reflux that can develop into cancer in some people), PPIs are most commonly prescribed for acid reflux.
Known as gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD); the symptoms of acid reflux include heartburn, an acid taste in the mouth, bad breath, bloating, nausea and/or vomiting. Whilst PPIs have been shown to be effective in treating the condition, recent studies indicate that long-term use may have serious consequences. For this reason, the team behind the latest research has urged caution over prescribing PPIs unnecessarily.
Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine, USA, studied more than 250,000 medical records of people taking PPIs or H2 blockers. While PPIs inhibit the enzymes necessary for acid production in the stomach, reducing it to around 10 percent of normal acid production, H2 blockers reduce the amount of histamine (which stimulates acid production) released in the stomach. The team found that, compared with H2 blocker use, PPI use was associated with a 25 percent heightened risk of death from all causes — a risk that increased the longer PPIs were taken.
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