Is It Risky to Take Heartburn Medication?

Heartburn medications can work wonders when it comes to alleviating the painful burning sensation in the chest and throat caused by acid reflux, a condition that affects over 60 million Americans each month. But research has linked a common class of heartburn drugs, called proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), to potential health risks — especially when these medications, often meant for short-term use, are taken for a long time.

That’s not an uncommon scenario, health experts say. “Oftentimes patients come into the hospital, they get put on a PPI and then it just never leaves their [medication] list,” says Shawna Stricker, a pharmacy resident at Nebraska Medicine in Omaha. (PPIs — which include lansoprazole [Prevacid], omeprazole [Prilosec] and esomeprazole [Nexium] — are also available over the counter.) The question then becomes: Does the patient “actually need that anymore, or is it causing more harm than good?” Stricker says.  

Health risks associated with PPIs

While PPIs are generally considered safe, researchers have uncovered some potential health risks associated with long-term use of the pills. 

For example, a recent study published in the journal Neurology suggests that people who take a prescription PPI for more than four years may have a higher risk of developing dementia compared to people who don’t take these medications. 

The study, which did not look at risks associated with over-the-counter PPI medications, included 5,712 adults ages 45 and older. Researchers followed the adults an average of five and a half years and observed that those who had been taking the acid reflux drugs for more than 4.4 years had a 33 percent higher risk of developing dementia than people who never took the drugs. (It’s important to note, however, that most studies have not found an association between PPI use and dementia among older adults.)

Beyond dementia, previous research has linked long-term PPI use to increased risk of bone fracture, kidney disease, gastrointestinal infection and magnesium deficiency. These risks were most pronounced in older adults, many of whom take medication for heartburn.