10th July 2020, Thursday
Can Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs) increase the risk of COVID-19
in current scenario? Pinjala R K
A study researcher Brennan
Spiegel, MD, MSHS, is co-Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology,
the publication in which the findings were reported on July 7th
2020. This study shows that 6.4% of 53,130
people surveyed nationwide were COVID-19 positive. After adjusting for other
factors, Spiegel and colleagues found that those taking PPIs once daily were at
about twice the risk for COVID-19 infection, a rate that rose to about fourfold
for people who took PPIs twice a day.
What
is the usage of Proton pump inhibitors in the world?
PPIs are the most commonly used drugs in the world. About 15 million people
in united states use PPIs every year. Studies suggest that as many as 70% of
people taking PPIs get no benefit from them. PPIs were first made available in
1989, and till now they are the best in inhibiting gastric acid secretions and
have been used mainly to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease, which affects
up to 10% of the adult population daily. Examples of other uses for PPIs are
peptic ulcer disease, stress ulcer prophylaxis, Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)
eradication, stomach protection in nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
(NSAIDs) chronic use, Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, upper gastrointestinal
bleeding, esophagitis, and dyspepsia. Like any other drug, PPIs have known
common minor adverse effects like headaches and gastrointestinal upset. However
recent studies have potentially linked long term use of PPIs to some systemic
severe adverse effects like increased risk of osteoporosis-related fractures,
Clostridium difficile infection, malabsorption of vitamins and minerals such as
vitamin B12, calcium and iron, dementia, pneumonia, kidney disease, and stroke.
Besides that, some local effects of long-term PPIs use include atrophic
gastritis due to prolonged acid suppression, hyper gastrinemia, chronic H.
pylori infection, and development of gastric polyps which lead to
gastric malignancy
