Is acid reflux medication linked to dementia? New study suggests so

livemint.com:

ANI. Persons with persistent acid reflux can develop gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD which could potentially result in oesophagal cancer. The author of new study, MBBS, PhD, of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology Kamakshi Lakshminarayan while speaking about proton pump inhibitors said, “Proton pump inhibitors are a useful tool to help control acid reflux, however, long-term use has been linked in previous studies to a higher risk of stroke, bone fractures and chronic kidney disease," “Still, some people take these drugs regularly, so we examined if they are linked to a higher risk of dementia.

While we did not find a link with short-term use, we did find a higher risk of dementia associated with long-term use of these drugs" Lakshminarayan added. The study included 5,712 participants who were 45 years old and did not have dementia at the start of the study, with an average age of 75 years. Of these, 1,490 people, or about 26 per cent, had taken the drug before.

These participants were then divided into four groups: a) people who had never taken the drug, b) people who had taken the drug for up to 2.8 years, c) people who had taken the drug for 2.8 to 4.4 years, and d) people who had taken it for more than 4.4 years. Researchers of the study made yearly phone calls and reviewed the participants' medication during study visits to determine if they were taking acid reflux drugs. The researchers found that 415 of the 4,222 participants developed dementia, or about 19 cases per 1,000 person-years.