A popular group of drugs for heartburn and peptic ulcer can increase the risk of dementia in people over 75 years.
This is stated by researchers from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Bonn.
This is a group of proton pump inhibitors (PPI), which include drugs such as omeprazole, pantoprazole or rabeprazole.
They effectively inhibit the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach.
German scientists have found a link between the use of PPI and the risk of Alzheimer's disease in patients older than 75 years, but the design of their study does not allow to prove that it was drugs that caused memory and thinking problems.
"To study the causal relationship between prolonged intake of proton pump inhibitors and dementia in the elderly, a randomized, prospective, controlled trial. Our results are of a different kind, "says Dr. Britta Haenisch,.
With this in mind, clinicians should continue to follow the current recommendations on the use of STIs in order to avoid unnecessary restrictions. To this, the authors of the study call on the pages of the new issue of the journal JAMA Neurology.
However, Dr. Malaz Boustani (Malaz Boustani), one of the world's leading experts in gerontology, is very concerned about the results and intends to inform his patients about whom he is prescribing antiulcer drugs.
Bustani says that in the past there have been reports of a link between H2-histamin blockers and the risk of dementia in elderly patients. This group includes no less well-known drugs, such as cimetidine (Tagamet) and famotidine (Quamatel). For this reason, he personally in his practice for many years avoided H2-gistaminoblokatorov, preferring IPP.
"I'm going to disclose new data to my patients and give them the opportunity to decide whether to take risks or not.
At the beginning of next week I will take in the clinic and intend to inform patients about possible risks associated with PPI and H2-histamin blockers. It will be right, "said Dr. Bustani to his colleagues from the American Federation for the Study of Aging.
To date, in the US, more than 15 million people regularly use proton pump inhibitors, and the market for these drugs in 2013 reached $ 10 billion. The most popular brands in the US remain Prilosec, Prevacid and Zegerid, which are available in American pharmacies without a doctor's prescription.
medbe. en.