Study Reveals Link Between Long-Term Use of Medication for Acid Reflux and 24% Increase in Diabetes

A new study recently found, long-term and regular use of drugs to treat acid reflux was associated with a 24-increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

These research findings, by combined first authors Junqiu Yuan and Qiangseng He, in collaboration with The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University in Shenzhen, China, were published yesterday in the journal, Gut.

According to the Harvard Medical School, these commonly taken medications, also known as PPIs or proton pump inhibitors, function by preventing certain "stomach cells from 'pumping' acid into the stomach."

While PPIs are more often than not, considered safe for short-term use, extended use may develop some health concerns such as bone fractures resulting from calcium malabsorption and intestinal infections, among other adverse effects.

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How PPIs Work

PPIs were said to have a significant effect on the gut microbiome, which could intensify the risk of type 2 diabetes, although the evidence remains unclear.

In addition, the risk was said to increase along with a long period of use of medication. Study authors found that the link was more vital among those who have lower BMI or Body Mass Index or normal blood pressure.

Meanwhile, researchers said that screening for abnormal blood sugar and type 2 diabetes is recommended for patients who need to get long-term PPI treatment.

Increased Risk Revealed

The study findings were drawn from an evaluation of almost 205,000 participants of three United States cohorts: the Nurses' Health Study or NHS, NHS II, and Health Professionals Follow-up Study or HPFS.

The said analysis revealed an increased risk following adjustment for risk factors; the ultimate danger of diabetes among regular users of PPIs was "7.44/1000 person-years compared with 4.32/100 person-years among non-PPI users."

Due to its wide usage, the total number of diabetes cases linked to PPI could be substantial, concluded the study authors.

They added that doctors need to balance the ratio between risk and benefit when they give their patients PPI prescriptions for long-term use.

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Comparison with Other Research

Several studies have proposed that PPIs' long-term use is linked to various negative effects like pneumonia, fracture, chronic kidney infection, and gastric cancer.

A retrospective cohort study that includes more than 380,000 patients found that patients who have upper gastrointestinal infection being given PPIs had a 20-percent drop in the risk of diabetes over a five-year follow-up period.

Nonetheless, a lot of essential confounders, which included smoking, alcohol consumption, and BMI, were not adjusted for in that particular research, resulting in concerns about such findings' validity.

A recent randomized managed trial examined the safety of "pantoprazole" over a median follow-up of three years in more than 17,500 participants.

Compared with placebo, pantoprazole was possible to have a moderate yet not statistically substantial increased diabetes risk.

Furthermore, other research found that PPI may lead to other medical conditions like obesity, chronic liver disease, metabolic syndrome, and other illnesses linked to diabetes.

In relation to this, recent research involving more than 330,000 children specified that the use of PPIs within the first couple of years of life was linked to childhood obesity.

Meanwhile, in adults with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, long-term cure with PPIs was linked to an intensified risk of unwanted weight gain.

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