Reflux Treatment Drug Alert
If it applies to you or someone you care about, this alert from the National Institute of Health could be very important. I understand that, from a science research standpoint, cause and effect wasn’t established, but the disclamer in the last sentence still doesn’t sit right:
Common Reflux Treatment Linked to Life Threatening Bowel Infection in Premature Infants
Researchers in an NIH network have found that premature infants given a common class of non-prescription drugs used to treat acid reflux are slightly more likely to develop a potentially fatal bowel disorder than are infants who are not treated with the drugs.
The drugs, known as H2 blockers, inhibit the production of stomach acid and may put premature infants at risk of necrotizing enterocolitis, a serious inflammation of the intestines. The study appears in the February 2006 Pediatrics and was conducted by researchers in the NIH’s National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network.
The researchers pointed out that it is not possible to tell from the study whether or not the drugs caused the condition, but nonetheless advised caution with their use for premature infants.
Read the rest of the article here.
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