Patients age 60 and older using proton-pump inhibitors to manage heartburn have a greater risk of contracting pneumonia, according to a study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Researchers at the University of Exeter Medical School studied the effects of proton-pump inhibitors, which are used to treat reduce gastric acid production and to protect the stomach.
“The study results show that for each 420 people treated with a proton pump inhibitor, which reduces stomach acid production, there will be 1 excess case of pneumonia,” Dr Jane Masoli, a researcher in the Epidemiology and Public Health Group at the University of Exeter Medical School, told UPI.
