Washington, June 11
Popping over-the-counter antacids daily to control acidity or heartburn can increase heart attack risk by 16-21 percent, a huge data-mining study led by an Indian-origin researcher has revealed.

The researchers analysed 16 million clinical documents of 2.9 million patients in two separate databases.

\"People who take medication to suppress stomach acid are at greater risk of developing myocardial infarction, commonly known as heart attack,\" said the lead researcher, Nigam H. Shah from Stanford University, California.

Drugs like Nexium, Prilosec and Prevacid -- called proton pump inhibitors (PPI) are among the most prescribed drugs to treat a wide range of disorders, including gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD).

\"By looking at data from people who were given these drugs primarily for acid reflux and had no prior history of heart disease, our data-mining pipeline signals an association with a higher rate of heart attacks.\"

\"Our results demonstrate that PPIs appear to be associated with elevated risk of heart attack in the general population,\" he added.

The team along with scientists from Houston Methodist Hospital, however, found that H2 blockers - another type of antacid drug - showed no such association.

Examples of the drug of H2 blockers are cimetidine and ranitidine and brand examples of H2 blockers are Zantac and Tagamet.

Daily antacid use ups heart attack risk: Study