COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Jul 9, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Findings of a Danish study
suggest the use of proton pump inhibitors can produce acid-related symptoms in
healthy adults.
Proton pump inhibitors are a group of drugs used to cause a pronounced and
long-lasting reduction of gastric acid production and are among the most widely
selling drugs in the world, Wikipedia said.
But results of an eight-week, randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial
led by Dr. Christina Reimer of Copenhagen University suggests proton pump
inhibitors can induce acid-related symptoms in healthy individuals once
treatment is withdrawn.
"The observation that more than 40 percent of healthy volunteers, who have never
been bothered by heartburn, acid regurgitation or dyspepsia develop such
symptoms in the weeks after cessation of PPIs is remarkable and has potentially
important clinical and economic implications," Reimer said. "This study
indicates unrecognized aspects of PPI withdrawal and is a very strong indication
of a clinically significant acid rebound phenomenon that needs to be
investigated in proper patient populations."
The research is reported in the journal Gastroenterology.
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