Money Matters, Simplified.
Common heartburn drugs found to raise pneumonia risk
by Neha Gupta - December 22, 2010 - comments
The results of the study clearly indicated that the risk of developing pneumonia was raised with the amount of acid suppressive a patient consumed.
Consumption of commonly used heartburn drugs, like proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and histamine-2 receptor antagonists, is linked to a greater risk of developing pneumonia, reveals a novel study.
"Our results suggest that the use of acid suppressive drugs is associated with an increased risk of pneumonia," said Dr. Sang Min Park of the department of family medicine at Seoul National University Hospital in Korea.
"Patients should be cautious at overuse of acid-suppressive drugs, both high-dose and long duration," he added.
PPIs, aimed at cutting acid production in the stomach, include omeprazole (Prilosec), lansoprazole (Prevacid) and esomeprazole (Nexium).
On the other hand, commonly used Histamine-2 receptor antagonists include cimetidine (Tagamet), famotidine (Pepcid), nizatidine (Axid), and ranitidine (Zantac).
The study details
The research, conducted by a team of researchers in Korea, looked at the results of 31 studies about heartburn drugs during 1985 and 2009.
The studies were analyzed in order to assess the link between the use of gastric acid-suppressive drugs and the risk of developing pneumonia.
A strong association was found between the use of proton pump inhibitors, a common class of gastric acid suppressive, and the development of pneumonia, the study claims.
The drugs are commonly given to almost 40 to 70 percent of hospitalized patients for treating heartburn, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and gastric ulcers.
The results clearly indicated that the risk of developing pneumonia was raised with the amount of acid suppressive a patient consumed.
A similar association was found between histamine 2-receptor antagonists and pneumonia.
The results are published in the Dec. 20 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Drugs commonly given to hospitalized patients
Though earlier studies too have indicated the possible link between the drugs and pneumonia in the past, the results have been mixed.
"Several previous studies have shown that treatment with acid-suppressive drugs might be associated with an increased risk of respiratory tract infections and community-acquired pneumonia in adults and children,” Chun-Sick Eom, MD, MPH, from Seoul National University Hospital in South Korea wrote.
"Given the widespread use of proton pump inhibitors and histamine 2-receptor antagonists, clarifying the potential impact of acid-suppressive therapy on the risk of pneumonia is of great importance to public health," Eom added.
The drugs are commonly given to almost 40 to 70 percent of hospitalized patients for treating heartburn, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and gastric ulcers.
Nearly $27 billion PPIs and histamine-2 receptor antagonists were sold in the United States in 2005.