In a recent study, researchers found that taking popular heartburn drugs for a long time is linked to graduate but silent kidney damage, including kidney failure.
The study examined the use of PPIs in 125,000 patients.
More than 15 million Americans suffering from heartburn, ulcers, and acid reflux have prescriptions for proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), which bring relief by reducing gastric acid.
PPIs are sold under the brand names Prevacid, Prilosec, Nexium, and Protonix, among others.
Many millions more purchase the drugs over-the-counter and take them without being under a doctor’s care.
Kidney problems often serve as a red flag for doctors to discontinue their patients’ use of the drug.
But the current study shows that more than half of patients who develop chronic kidney damage while taking the drugs don’t experience acute kidney problems beforehand.
This means patients may not be aware of a decline in kidney function, according to the researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System.
Therefore, people who take PPIs, and their doctors, should be more vigilant in monitoring the use of these medications, according to the researchers.
In the study, the researchers analyzed data from the Department of Veterans Affairs databases on 125,596 new users of PPIs and 18,436 new users of other heartburn drugs referred to as H2 blockers.
The latter is much less likely to cause kidney problems but often aren’t as effective.
Over five years of follow up, the researchers found that more than 80 percent of PPI users did not develop acute kidney problems.
The kidney problems often are reversible and are characterized by too little urine leaving the body, fatigue, and swelling in the legs and ankles.
However, more than half of the cases of chronic kidney damage and end-stage renal disease associated with PPI use occurred in people without acute kidney problems.
In contrast, among new users of H2 blockers, 7.67% developed chronic kidney disease in the absence of acute kidney problems, and 1.27% developed the end-stage renal disease.
The end-stage renal disease occurs when the kidneys can no longer effectively remove waste from the body. In such cases, dialysis or a kidney transplant is needed to keep patients alive.
The researchers suggest that the onset of acute kidney problems is not a reliable warning sign for clinicians to detect a decline in kidney function among patients taking proton pump inhibitors,”
Their results indicate kidney problems can develop silently and gradually over time, eroding kidney function and leading to long-term kidney damage or even renal failure.
Patients should be cautioned to tell their doctors if they’re taking PPIs and only use the drugs when necessary.
The team also suggests that doctors must pay careful attention to kidney function in their patients who use PPIs, even when there are no signs of problems
In general, they always advise clinicians to evaluate whether PPI use is medically necessary in the first place because the drugs carry significant risks, including a deterioration of kidney function.
Ziyad Al-Aly, MD. is the study’s senior author.
The study is published in Kidney International.
Copyright © 2018 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
Source: Kidney International.
