Health: Study Links Heartburn Medications, Heart Attacks
By Stephanie Stahl
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A large new study shows a clear link between some widely-used heartburn medicines and heart attacks. CBS 3 health reporter Stephanie Stahl explains the connection.
These are popular medications. About 20 million Americans take this certain class of medication for heartburn. Now this new study, which included about 3 million people, says they can cause heart attacks.
Like millions of Americans, Peter Leehy suffers with heartburn and acid reflux.
"It progressively got worse to the point where one day, I felt a lot of discomfort in my chest and eventually went up into my neck," Peter said.
Peter started taking antacids called proton pump inhibitors or PPIs to help control heartburn symptoms.
Now a new large study shows people who take PPIs may be more likely to have a heart attack. The drugs have brand names such as Prevacid, Prilosec and Nexium.
"Proton pump inhibitors increase the risk of heart attack in the general population by about 15 to 20 percent," said researcher Dr. John Cooke.
Previous studies show PPIs can affect the lining of blood vessels, interfering with blood flow, which can increase the risk of heart attacks.
Cardiologist Dr. Arun Swaminath said, "If you are taking these medications, I wouldn't panic, but I would re-assess whether you really need to be on it, or if you can taper off or have it replaced with a different type of drug."
Researchers found antacids called H2 blockers did not have heart risk. Those medicines include Pepcid and Zantac.
Peter's doctor is already moving him to an H2 blocker.
"There is a lot of heart problems historically in my family, so that's a big issue for me," Peter said.
The makers of Nexium, AstraZeneca, said in a statement in part, "Patient safety is an important priority for AstraZeneca and we believe all of our medicines, including Nexium, are generally safe and effective when used in accordance with the label."
More about the research can be found at the Stanford University School of Medicine:
