January 26, 2016 – More Than Kidneys

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Anchor lead:  Use of a common antacid may impact on more than your stomach, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Proton pump inhibitors looked like a Godsend when they were released more than two decades ago, helping many people with gastroesophageal reflux disease and other conditions.  But now research by Morgan Grams and colleagues at Johns Hopkins ties them to chronic kidney disease, and Grams says, that’s not all.

Grams: There really is quite a bit of evidence.  PPI use with C. dif infections, which is a diarrheal infection, pneumonia, increased fracture risk, acute kidney injury.  There have been observational links between PPI use and all of those adverse effects.  All of them were observational so you can’t say it causes it but there seems to be mounting evidence that PPIs have some adverse effects that we should be looking for.    :26

Grams notes that people may be prescribed these medicines to combat an acute condition but end up taking them chronically, and since many people buy them over the counter her study may not have completely captured the risk.  At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.