A new study conducted by the American Journal of Gastroenterology published last week reveals that those who take PPI (proton pump inhibitors) drugs are twice as likely to contract the coronavirus.
The findings revealed that 3,386 participants tested positive for the novel coronavirus. After analyzing the data, the researchers learned that people who took PPI drugs once a day were two times more likely to test positive for the virus, and those who took it twice daily were more than three and a half times likely to test positive. The study suggests that the usage of drugs should be added to the list of factors that increase the risk of a COVID-19 infection.
The researchers also found that those who take non-PPI heartburn drugs, like Tagamet, did not show any signs of being suspected to the infection.
Nexium, Prilosec, Prevacid, and Protonix have become increasingly popular drugs to treat heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux disease since Zantac was removed from the marketplace in April.
Zantac (ranitidine) and Prilosec (omeprazole) are two brand name medications that can treat gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Zantac works as a histamine H2 antagonist and Prilosec works as a proton pump inhibitor. Although they both work differently, they produce similar effects such as reduced stomach acid.
“The FDA has been investigating NDMA and other nitrosamine impurities in blood pressure and heart failure medicines called Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers (ARBs) since last year,” the original statement read. “In the case of ARBs, the FDA has recommended numerous recalls as it discovered unacceptable levels of nitrosamines.”
The original statement concluded that preliminary tests had confirmed ranitidine contains low levels of NDMA. This caused drug companies Novartis (which makes both Zantac and generic versions of the ranitidine medication) and Apotex (which makes Wal-Zan) to recall all of their generic ranitidine products sold in the US.
Recent studies suggest there is a positive correlation between Zantac use and the formation of carcinogens within the human body. You may be able to file a Zantac cancer lawsuit if you developed cancer while consuming Zantac for a prolonged period.
