Taking Certain Heartburn Meds Linked To Higher Risk Of Heart Attack

By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health) - People who take certain popular heartburn medications, like omeprazole (Prilosec), are at increased risk of heart attack, according to a data mining study by U.S. researchers. The drugs, called proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs), lower acidity in the stomach and prevent the burning sensation in the esophagus that indicates acid reflux. There have been questions about the safety of these drugs for people who have had a coronary event like a heart attack, said lead author Nigam H. Shah of Stanford University in California, but most research has focused on the interaction between these drugs and the blood thinner clopidogrel (Plavix). "Now, given the underlying biology and the effect of these drugs in reducing nitric oxide in the blood vessel walls, the observed association is not super surprising," Shah told Reuters Health by email. Although the results are compelling, this study does not prove that PPIs cause heart attacks, however, he said. More than 20 million people in the U.S. use one of these PPI drugs each year, he and his coauthors write in the journal PLOS ONE. The researchers used clinical notes recorded at Stanford University since 1994 and a web-based electronic health record system of mostly private practices. They searched more than 16 million clinical records for almost three million U.S. adults to record incid...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news