Proton pump inhibitors associated with higher risk of myocardial infarction

A new data mining study has found an association between patients taking proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and an increased risk of myocardial infarction.

The study, published in the journal PLOS One, suggests that PPIs such as omeprazole may put patients at greater risk of infarction, though causation has not been proved. It looked at clinical documents on 2.9 million people in the USA and considered whether the use of PPIs was associated with cardiovascular risk. The results found that people with gastrointestinal reflux disease who took PPIs were 16%-21% more likely to experience myocardial infarction than those who did not. They were also twice as likely to die of a heart-related issue.

Nigam Shah said: "given the underlying biology and the effect of these drugs in reducing nitric oxide in the blood vessel walls, the observed association is not super surprising."