Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI), or medications used to treat gastric issues as heartburn and acid reflux, were prescribed to an estimated 15 million people in the United States in 2013. A recent study from the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, the Veteran’s Affairs Saint Louis Health Care System and Washington University in St. Louis suggests that long-term use of these drugs could lead to chronic kidney disease. 

 

To determine the effects of PPI’s on kidney function, researchers looked at more than 173,000 new users of PPIs over a period of five years. Overtime, it was found that PPI users had a 28 percent increased risk of developing chronic kidney disease and 96 percent more likely to develop kidney failure. While the exact cause of this is not known, the study’s authors argue the data provides important information for further investigations into drug safety.