Proton Pump Inhibitors Could Increase Dementia Risk
Older adults using proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) may be at increased risk of developing dementia, according to a recent study.
Previous studies have shown that the use of PPIs may be related to cognitive decline, but their full effects on the risk of dementia are less well understood.
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To examine this relationship, researchers conducted a prospective cohort study using observational data from 73,697 participants between 2004-2011, including inpatient and outpatient diagnoses and drug prescriptions available on a quarterly basis. Using a time-dependent Cox regression model, researchers analyzed the potential association between use of PPIs (omeprazole, pantoprazole, lansoprazole, esomeprazole, or rabeprazole) on the risk of developing dementia.
Overall, patients receiving regular PPIs were significantly more likely to develop incident dementia compared to those not taking the medication (hazard ratio, 1.44).
“The avoidance of PPI medication may prevent the development of dementia. This finding is supported by recent pharmacoepidemiological analyses on primary data and is in line with mouse models in which the use of PPIs increased the levels of β-amyloid in the brains of mice. Randomized, prospective clinical trials are needed to examine this connection in more detail,” the researchers concluded.
—Michael Potts
Reference:
Gomm W, Holt K, Thome F, et al. Association of proton pump inhibitors with risk of dementia. Jama Neurology. February 15, 2016 [epub ahead of print]. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2015.4791.