Heartburn drugs linked to premature death

Conclusion This larger set of observational data finds that PPI drugs are associated with an increase in the risk of early death compared with either H2 blockers or no acid suppression drugs. This was the case for participants both with and without gastrointestinal problems. It also appears as though the longer the PPIs drugs are taken, the greater the risk of death. Considering that these drugs are widely used in the UK, these findings may cause concern. But the research has a number of important limitations: The study was conducted in a population of mostly white, older US male veterans, which might limit the ability to generalise the results to the whole UK population. Deaths can't be linked directly to the use of PPIs. The researchers have tried to adjust for many health and other characteristics that could be linked with both PPI use and higher risk of death, such as cardiovascular diseases, but we still can't be certain the influence of the disease has been fully taken into account. Many of the deaths occurred in the first year, so could well be linked to underlying causes. There was also no information on cause of death. The follow-up period only lasted around five years. Longer term death outcomes weren't examined – it may be that PPIs are associated with better outcomes for participants in the long term, but we can't say for sure either way. The length of follow-up in the PPI group was more than two years longer than in the H2 blocker group, so it'...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medication Source Type: news