By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    medicare part d benefits
    Everything that You Need to Know About Medicare Part D
    August 15, 2022
    Best Ways to Boost Your Immune System this Winter
    Best Ways to Boost Your Immune System this Winter
    November 15, 2022
    back pain issues
    Ways to Treat Constant Back Pain
    August 21, 2023
    Latest News
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
    The Best Home Remedies for Migraines
    June 5, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    More On Wellness Programs To Improve Health and Reduce Costs
    January 25, 2012
    Privatizing Social Security and Medicare: Who Can Defuse Political Dynamite?
    June 12, 2011
    Study: Risk of Death in Elderly Patients with Dementia Doubled with Some Antipsychotic Medications
    February 26, 2012
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Do Nexium and Heartburn Medicines Cause Dementia?
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Diagnostics > Do Nexium and Heartburn Medicines Cause Dementia?
DiagnosticsWellness

Do Nexium and Heartburn Medicines Cause Dementia?

Michael Kirsch
Michael Kirsch
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE
Proton pump inhibitors, or PPIs, are among the most common drugs prescribed in the United States.  They are extremely safe and highly effective for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).  Are there potential side-effects?  Of course.  Look up the side effects of any of your medicines and you will soon need an anxiety medicine to relieve you of side-effect stress.  The side-effect lists of even our safest medicines are daunting. 
 
PPIs are associated with a growing list of potenti
Proton pump inhibitors, or PPIs, are among the most common drugs prescribed in the United States.  They are extremely safe and highly effective for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).  Are there potential side-effects?  Of course.  Look up the side effects of any of your medicines and you will soon need an anxiety medicine to relieve you of side-effect stress.  The side-effect lists of even our safest medicines are daunting. 
 
PPIs are associated with a growing list of potential serious side-effects, at least according to the lay press.  A few clicks on your computer, and you will find that these medicines can cause pneumonia, C difficile colitis, absorption of nutrients, bone fractures and anemia.   The latest report to emerge links these drugs with dementia.  In the past two weeks, I’ve been questioned about this repeatedly by my patients.  One stopped her medication from fear that her heartburn medicine might be incinerating her neurons.
 
Enemy of Heartburn Medicines?
 
While no drug, including PPIs, is entirely safe, I have never seen a serious PPI side-effect having prescribed them to thousands of patients.  I’ll bet that your gastroenterologist and internist can boast a similar track record.  Doesn’t that experience mean something? 
 
 
The lay press, in my view, often covers medical science carelessly and without context.  The science underlying the above listed PPI side-effects is extremely thin.  Yet, the headlines describing them can sound authoritative and persuasive.  Remember the adage of local TV news, if it bleeds it leads?  Same concept.
 
Which of these two headlines or sound bites would be more likely to appear?
 
Nexium, superb heartburn fighter, may have questionable effect on bones, although results preliminary.

Nexium leads to hip fractures!
 
The scientific studies that link PPIs to bone disease or dementia are not high quality research studies.  These studies are done on large populations of individuals and do not demonstrate any actual causative effects of the medicines.  When you read the word associated, as in Nexium is associated with cognitive decline, you can accuratelyinterpret that statement to mean there is no proof that Nexium causes dementia.  Association is a weak link which has results from a weak study.
For the same reason, favorable results from similar studies should be viewed with great skepticism.  Next year we may read that Nexium is associated with a reversal of male pattern baldness and enhanced libido.  (If this hypothetical were to truly occur, then I hope that I can time my stock purchase just prior to the announcement.)
 

So, if heartburn patients have forgotten their keys somewhere, there is no need to flush your heartburn medicines down the toilet.  You are not losing your mind, just your keys.  Remember, much of what we read and hear in the lay press is associated with ignorance.

 
TAGGED:drug side effectsheartburnNexium
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
Global Healthcare Policy & Law
July 17, 2025
paramedics in surgical gloves and masks
How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
Health care
July 16, 2025
a woman giving a key
How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
Health
July 16, 2025
a woman with kinesio tapes on her back arm
How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
Health care
July 16, 2025

You Might also Like

Wellness

How To Build Muscle And Get Lean

August 15, 2018
Home HealthWellness

Why Plant-Based Eating Is So Good For Your Health

July 28, 2020

How to Increase Height with Food and Exercises

June 13, 2018

Attempt to Standardize Home Health Care

March 24, 2011
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?