Heartburn medicine linked to greater pneumonia risk

October 27, 2004

[Yet another side effect of a class of drugs that are a crutch for poor

lifestyle and nutrition]

By ANDRÉ PICARD

PUBLIC HEALTH REPORTER

Wednesday, October 27, 2004 - Page A23

IA27/TPHealth/

People who take drugs to treat heartburn and gastrointestinal reflux

disease are at markedly increased risk of developing pneumonia,

according to new research.

The drugs -- sold under brand names such as Prilosec, Nexium and Zantac

-- do an excellent job of suppressing stomach-acid levels but, in the

process, increase vulnerability to infections because stomach acidity is

a principal defence mechanism against all sorts of microbes, said Dr.

Robert Laheij, a researcher at the University Medical Center St. Radboud

in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

In his study, published in today's edition of the Journal of the

American Medical Association, he stressed this is not a problem for most

people but poses a danger to those who are vulnerable to infections,

such as the frail elderly.

Dr. Linda Rabeneck, director of the division of gastroenterology at the

University of Toronto, agreed that the risk posed by acid-suppressive

medications needs to be kept in perspective, but said the research will

have an influence. " For physicians who are prescribing these

medications, we will think harder and really aim to get people off them

sooner than we might otherwise . . . particularly the elderly and people

who have damage to their immune system, " she said.

About 5 per cent of the population seek medical treatment for

indigestion or gastrointestinal reflux (a backflow of acid from the

stomach into the esophagus), making these drugs among the biggest

sellers in the world, with sales in excess of $13-billion (U.S.) annually.

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