WEB DESK: A new study has revealed that taking medicines for heartburn and indigestion may increase risk of death. 

The researchers from Washington University in the US examined medical records of about 2,75,000 users of proton pump inhibitors (PPI) and 75,000 people who took another class of drugs — known as H2 blockers — to reduce stomach acid. They figured out that,"No matter how we sliced and diced the data from this large data set, we saw the same thing: There’s an increased risk of death among PPI users. When we compared patients taking H2 blockers with those taking PPIs for one to two years, we found those on PPIs had a 50% increased risk of dying over the next five years."

A researcher, serving as an assistant professor at Washington University Ziyad Al-Aly said that,"People have the idea that PPIs are very safe because they are readily available, but there are real risks to taking these drugs, particularly for long periods of time."

Moreover, the team of researchers have identified 275,933 people who were taking PPI and around 73,355 people who were taking H2 blockers between the years October 2006 to September 2008. The group has noted 25% risk of death in the PPI group as compare to group of people who were consuming H2 blocker.

Also, the risk of death was also observed in persons who were prescribed PPIs or H2 blockers although they did not have gastrointestinal conditions for which these pills have formed. Plus, researchers have found that people who took PPIs had a 24% increased risk of death in comparison to those who were taking H2 blockers.

Lastly, Al-Aly concluded that,"A lot of times people get prescribed PPIs for a good medical reason, but then doctors do not stop it and patients just keep getting refill after refill."

Source: Hindustan Times