Science / Medicine : Ulcer Recurrence Cut by Regular Drug Doses

Regular doses of a common ulcer medicine, taken even when people are healthy, can keep ulcers from returning, a study has found.

The ulcer drugs ranitidine and cimetidine can heal digestive ulcers within a month or two, but doctors usually prescribe them only during flare-ups, not between them. The ulcers usually return.

In the latest study, conducted on people with duodenal ulcers, doctors showed that regular maintenance therapy with ranitidine cut the chances of ulcers returning almost in half.

Patients who drank alcohol, smoked, had a history of ulcer disease or had duodenal scarring were at the greatest risk of recurrence, and they also benefited the most from regular doses of the drug. During a one-year period, ulcers returned in 37% of the people getting ranitidine and 63% who took dummy or placebo pills.

The study, conducted on 140 people, was directed by Dr. Gary M. Van Deventer of the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Los Angeles. It was published in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine.