The use of acid-suppressive drugs to combat digestive disorders increases the risk of pneumonia, researchers say. The drugs work by restricting the production of acid in the stomach. But researchers from Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands, found they increased the risk of pneumonia by 27% in a study of 364,000 people. One in 20 people visit UK doctors each year complaining of heartburn, and many are prescribed acid-suppressive drugs to alleviate stomach acid build-up. The drugs are commonly used for gastrointestinal diseases such as gastroesohageal reflux disease, the backflow of acid from the stomach into the oesophagus, which affects about one in 50 people. But doctors also prescribe them for severe indigestion.
