According to Nature World Report, a recent study says that people who are suffering from heartburn and regularly taking medications to treat it, are advised to reconsider which medicines they may take.
Researchers of two different studies have unearthed similar results on the strong link between Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI) and an increased Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) prevalence as well as other acid-related gastrointestinal conditions like acute interstitial nephritis.
The first study observed 10,482 participants from the "The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC)", which is designed to investigate the etiology and history of the process in which arteries thicken and harden. The participants were all adults, who had normal kidney function from 1996 to 2011 but were also obese and had been noted to be taking antihypertensive medications.
The first team of researchers found out that PPI users were between 20 and 50 percent more likely to develop CKD than non PPI-users.
Thus, lead researcher of the second study Dr. Pradeep Arora of SUNY Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Science in New York, suggested that these links may stem from two things: One, repeated bouts of acute interstitial nephritis damage kidneys, and/or two, PPIs reduce the levels of magnesium in the blood, which may also damage kidneys.
"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," Arora explained in a press release.
Medical Daily also said in its report that PPIs are one of the top 10 classes of prescribed medications in the U.S. that aid in a pronounced and long-lasting reduction of gastric acid production. Classified as independent risk factor for CKD, these medications have been proven to be very effective at treating heartburn, including ulcers and other related conditions.
It is also pointed out that these two studies merely show an association between PPIs and CKD as a causal relationship has not been proven yet.
The findings and recommendations of these recent studies as published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology will be presented on this year's ASN Kidney Week 2015, to be held from Nov. 3-8 in San Diego.