Long-term indigestion treatment with proton pump inhibitors increases the risk of gastric cancer.

We have known for a long time that patients with indigestion have an increased risk of developing stomach cancer, due to inflammation and thinning of the stomach lining. This is always been assumed to be due to infection by H. pylori even though many patients have the same time are taking proton pump inhibitors for indigestion.
Many people around the world are using these drugs which are very effective with very few side-effects – until now.

A study done in Hong Kong (click here) has come up with some rather alarming information. They followed over 63,000 people over almost 8 years, they eliminated those who did not have H. pylori infection because they have been treated with specific antibiotics. 153 developed stomach cancer and those taking proton pump inhibitors had a 250% increase in gastric cancer.

Stomach cancer is the 4th most common cancer in the world, but in Asia, it is the 2nd most common cause of cancer death after lung cancer. Possibly these people in Hong Kong might have been a slightly increased risk, but nevertheless the message is still very strong – PPI drugs (Losec, omeprazole, pantoprazole) do significantly increase the risk of cancer, and thus should not be taken all the time unless absolutely necessary.

Because they have so few side-effects, and are so effective any people are taking them all the time, and this we should avoid.