Heartburn Drugs May Damage Kidneys

Prevacid, Prilosec, Nexium and Protonix are the names of four popular brands for proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), drugs that decrease gastric acid production and are sold to treat heartburn, which they do fairly well. Unfortunately, according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System, they can also lead to serious kidney damage. A Wash U news release reports that researchers at the school examined national VA databases to identify 173,321 new users of PPIs and 20,270 new users of an alternative class of stomach-acid suppressing drugs called histamine H2 receptor blockers. Following the patients for five years, the researchers found that chronic kidney disease affected 15 percent of PPI users who took the drugs over the course of the study compared with 11 percent of H2 blockers. After controlling for factors such as age and other health conditions that PPIs were associated with, researchers found a 28 percent increased risk of kidney damage among PPI users. How big a problem is it? The researchers believe that 15 million Americans have prescriptions for PPIs.