Acid reflux happens when stomach acid goes up into the food pipe after eating or when lying down.
This can lead to a burning feeling known as heartburn, and in extreme cases, sores in the stomach. If acid reflux happens often, it might turn into a disease called GERD. This can even lead to throat cancer.
One common treatment for acid reflux is a drug called a proton pump inhibitor. This drug works by stopping the stomach from making so much acid.
The Study and What It Found
A new study, led by Kamakshi Lakshminarayan from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, wanted to see if there was a connection between these drugs and dementia.
Dementia is a health problem where people start to forget things and can’t think clearly.
The study had 5,712 people, all older than 45 and without dementia at the beginning.
They checked if the participants were taking acid reflux drugs. They then grouped these participants based on how long they took the drugs.
They found that out of the people who didn’t take the drugs, 415 out of 4,222 got dementia. But for those who took the drugs for more than 4.4 years, 58 out of 497 got dementia.
After considering other factors like age, health, and lifestyle, they found that people who took the drug for more than 4.4 years had a 33% increased chance of getting dementia compared to those who didn’t take the drug.
But people who took the drug for less than 4.4 years didn’t seem to have this higher risk.
What This Means and The Way Forward
Lakshminarayan pointed out that this study doesn’t say that acid reflux drugs cause dementia. It only shows that there might be a link between the two. More studies are needed to understand this better.
She also said that people who are on these drugs should talk to their doctor before stopping them or changing how they take them. There are other ways to treat acid reflux, but these might not work for everyone.
The study had some issues. For example, they asked participants about their drug use only once a year. So, there might be some mistakes in the data if participants changed how they took the drugs during the year.
The study also didn’t check if participants were taking acid reflux drugs that you can buy without a prescription.
If you care about dementia, please read studies about how the Mediterranean diet could protect your brain health, and Vitamin B supplements could help reduce dementia risk.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies that high-fiber diet could help lower the dementia risk, and these antioxidants could help reduce dementia risk.
The study was published in Neurology.
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