Heartburn Drug Could Harm Some People, Researchers Say

Long-term use of a widely prescribed heartburn drug called Prilosec may be hazardous if patients are also infected with a common bacterium linked to both stomach ulcers and cancer. Although the drug relieves severe heartburn by suppressing the production of stomach acid, the lower acid levels allow the bacteria to cause more inflammation, a Dutch team reports in the April 18 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

These bacteria, Helcobacter pylori, are the leading cause of stomach ulcers and also may cause stomach cancer. About half of all Americans are infected with H. pylori, although most suffer no apparent harm. In a new study, researchers found that years of Prilosec treatment in victims of severe heartburn led to precancerous changes in the stomach lining if they also were infected with H. pylori. Prilosec was harmless in people not infected with the bacteria.