A new study from Washington University in St. Louis has found that long-term use of popular heartburn medications may lead to serious kidney problems, including kidney failure. The drugs in question are proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), commonly sold under brand names like Prevacid, Prilosec, Nexium, and Protonix.
These medications help reduce stomach acid and are widely used to treat heartburn, acid reflux, and ulcers. In the U.S. alone, over 15 million people have prescriptions for PPIs, and many more buy them over the counter without a doctor’s supervision.
Doctors usually look for acute (sudden) kidney problems as a warning sign to stop PPI use. However, this study found that more than half of patients who developed long-term kidney damage from PPIs did not experience acute kidney issues first.
This means that many people may not realize their kidney function is slowly declining until serious damage has already occurred.
The researchers analyzed 125,000 patients over a five-year period. They found that while most PPI users (about 80%) did not develop sudden kidney problems, many still experienced chronic kidney disease or even end-stage renal failure. Surprisingly, over half of these cases occurred in patients who never had earlier signs of kidney trouble.
This finding is important because it challenges the assumption that sudden kidney problems are a warning sign of long-term damage. Instead, PPIs can cause gradual, silent kidney decline, which can eventually lead to irreversible kidney failure.
Doctors and patients should be cautious about long-term PPI use and only take these medications when absolutely necessary. Patients should also inform their doctors if they are using PPIs, especially if they have been taking them for an extended period without medical supervision.
The study, conducted by Ziyad Al-Aly and his team, was published in Kidney International.
If you care about kidney health, please read studies about how to protect your kidneys from diabetes, and drinking coffee could help reduce risk of kidney injury.
For more information about kidney health, please see recent studies about foods that may prevent recurrence of kidney stones, and eating nuts linked to lower risk of chronic kidney disease and death.
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