The drugs, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), are among the top 10 class of prescribed medications in the US.
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Two recently released studies have linked PPIs to a heightened risk of chronic kidney disease. These drugs act by lowering the amount of hydrochloric acid present in stomach which is produced by the mucosal lining in the stomach, thus relieving symptoms of acid reflux, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and peptic or stomach ulcers. The chronic Kidney diseases are directly linked to this as around 20 million Americans are at risk of the disease. The study will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2015 from November 3 to 8 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, CA. The medications in question are proton pump inhibitors, which are commonly used to treat heartburn and acid reflux.
In one study, Benjamin Lazarus and his team, from Johns Hopkins University, followed more than 10,000 adults with normal kidney function from 1996 to 2011.
In the other study 240000 patients were considered from 1997 to 2014. Diabetes Mellitus and hypertension are two common risk factors for kidney disease.
Another study conducted by Dr. Pradeep Arora of the SUNY Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Science in New York, studied 24,000 individuals with CKD between 2001 and 2008.
Dr. Arora added that previous studies have linked PPIs to other short-term kidney issues, such as acute kidney injury, and acute interstitial nephritis, an inflammatory kidney disease. That study found that users of proton pump inhibitors had a 20 percent to 50 percent increased risk of chronic kidney disease development, compared with those not using the medications.
As Tech Times pointed out, these studies merely show a link between PPIs and CKD – they do not prove a causal relationship.
“If we know the potential adverse effects of PPI medications we can design better interventions to reduce overuse”, Lazarus noted.
Dr. Arora concluded, “As a large number of patients are being treated with PPIs, health care providers need to be better educated about the potential side effects of these drugs, such as CKD”.
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“According to United States of America data, 90 percent of the prescriptions for PPI are not related to FDA-approved indications”, he said. “We are using this medication right and left, and it may be counterproductive for many patients”. They also noted that those who take PPIs were nearly twice as likely to die prematurely. When looking at the total group of patients (n=71,516), those who took PPIs were at a lower risk of developing hypertension, cancer, diabetes, vascular disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
