Popular heartburn drugs linked to gradual yet ‘silent’ kidney damage

Washington: Taking popular heartburn drugs for prolonged periods has been linked to serious kidney problems, including kidney failure. The sudden onset of kidney problems often serves as a red flag for doctors to discontinue their patients’ use of so-called proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), which are sold under the brand names Prevacid, Prilosec, Nexium and Protonix, among others. But a new study evaluating the use of PPIs in 125,000 patients indicates that more than half of patients who develop chronic kidney damage while taking the drugs don’t experience acute kidney problems beforehand, meaning patients may not be aware of a decline in kidney function, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System. Therefore, people who take PPIs, and their doctors, should be more vigilant in monitoring use of these medications.

Some heartburn drugs may boost risk of heart attack, study finds

Stanford: A data-mining study has found an association between the use of proton-pump inhibitors, which account for 100 million prescriptions per year in the United States alone, and the likelihood of incurring a heart attack down the road. Stanford researchers found an association between a commonly used drug for treating heartburn and the likelihood of incurring a heart attack down the road.