With six weeks pregnancy, Margarita Rosa Barrios started feeling the symptoms, of which every expecting mother is afraid these days- three days of...
A research claimed that the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPI) could lead to dementia, a memory disorder common among elderly people.
However, there are no clear evidences to support this finding. The results of observation study were published in JAMA Neurology titled as Association of Proton Pump Inhibitors with Risk of Dementia.
The PPIs include lansoprazole (Prevacid) and are manufactured by Novartis, as well as esomeprazole (Nexium) and omeprazole (Prilosec), both manufactured by AstraZeneca. The researchers analyzed 73000 people, who were 75 and above, without dementia at the start of the study.
The result indicated that those who took PPI for over seven years were 44% likely to get dementia. The drug on regular consumption cross the blood-brain barrier, it can reduce level of vitamin B12, which, if is too low leads to dementia.
There are other many drugs that can cause dementia. For instance, older people take multiple drugs for various conditions are likely to develop dementia.
PPI is also linked to many problems such as increased risk of fractures in the hip, wrist, and spine and infection with Clostridium difficile, which sometimes can be life threatening. Many people take these drugs for symptoms such as acid reflux or heartburn, or gastro-esophageal reflux disease.
