A new study published in the journal BMJ Open compared the health outcomes of people prescribed Proton Pump Inhibitors(PPI) and H2 blockers for Heartburn/Acid Reflux and this is what they found.
The people who were prescribed PPIs (for eg. esomeprazole, or Nexium, and lansoprazole, or Prevacid) had a 25% higher risk of dying during the study period than those who took the H2 blockers (such as famotidine, or Pepcid, and ranitidine, or Zantac)
In a new study published in the journal BMJ Open, researchers analyzed data from nearly 350,000 people who were prescribed some type of heartburn drug: either a PPI or H2 receptor antagonist, known as H2 blockers. The participants came from the U.S. Veterans Affairs database, and the scientists tracked their health outcomes for up to eight years.
People who did not have a digestive issue but used the PPIs were among those with the highest risk of early death.
Our recommendation: Both doctors and patients should be more critical and careful when prescribing and taking the medications. Lifestyle changes, like diet and exercise, can often help a lot in relieving some cases of heartburn.
Find our lifestyle and diet tips to managing acid reflux/ GERD here
For the complete article read here
