Study finds patients taking proton pump inhibitor drugs like omeprazole are more likely to have kidney disease
Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), which include drugs known as omeprazole, are some of the most prescribed drugs in the world. In Spain, it represents more than 6% of all drugs and doubles the European average in its consumption.
These medications are prescribed for frequent heartburn, acid reflux, and gastroesophageal reflux disease. However, its occasional use is becoming more widespread as a “stomach guard” when its side effects, particularly if taken frequently, are very severe.
At the University of California San Diego studythe researchers analyzed the FAERS database, which contains more than 10 million patient records, and all voluntary reports of adverse events during the use of a drug.
The team focused on patients taking PPIs and no other medications, narrowing their study population to around 43,000 patients. They also included the control group, about 8,000 patients taking histamine 2 receptor blockers, a different type of antacid and no other drugs.
The team found that patients who took only PPIs reported a kidney-related adverse reaction in 5.6%, compared with just 0.7% of patients who took only histamine-2 receptor blockers.
Compared with the control group, patients who took only PPIs were 28.4 times more likely to report chronic kidney disease, as well as acute kidney injury (4.2 times), end-stage renal disease (35.5 times more), and heart failure. unspecified kidney (8 times more).
As the World Health Organization (WHO) points out, PPIs are essential medicines for many people, helping them to manage symptoms that are often painful and disruptive to everyday life. However, its indiscriminate use is spreading, and it is a drug that requires supervision.
The researchers made similar recommendations following a 2017 study by the UC San Diego School of Medicine that found evidence in mice and humans that PPIs promote chronic liver disease.
REFERENCE
Do proton pump inhibitors cause CKD and CKD progression?: PRO