Taking potent drugs to combat indigestion can
increase the risk of breaking hip and other bones,
researchers say.
Drugs that restrict the production of acid in the
stomach are among the most effective and
best-selling treatments in the world, with sales
worth more than £7 billion a year.
But a study of nearly 150,000 British patients by
American researchers found that they increased the
risk of hip fracture by as much as 44 per cent.
The study, published today in the Journal of
the American Medical Association, suggests that
taking proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) may decrease
cal-cium absorption or bone dens- ity in certain
patients, leading to increased risk of fractures.
Many of the one in twenty people who visit
doctors in Britain each year complaining of
heartburn are prescribed acid-suppressive drugs — or
PPIs — to alleviate their problems. Prescriptions
for PPIs such as omeprazole — sold under the brand
names Losec, Prilosec and Zegerid — rose by more
than 5,000 per cent during the 1990s.
A team from the University of Pennsylvania School
of Medicine, Philadelphia, analysed data from the UK
General Practice Research Database, which contains
information on millions of British patients.
Limiting the study to people aged over 50, the
researchers examined 13,556 hip fracture cases and
135,386 control patients. After screening for other
factors that might lead to a fall or brittle bones,
they found that more than one year of PPI therapy
was associated with a 44 per cent increased risk of
hip fracture.
They suggest that elderly patients taking high
doses of PPIs for long periods should boost their
calcium intake.
A1
Health Care
