Drugs used to treat heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux disease may be promoting an increased risk of Clostridium difficile infection, a significant cause of diarrhea.The use of these drugs -- particularly proton pump inhibitors, such as AcipHex, Nexium, Prevacid, Prilosec and Protonix -- and H2 receptor antagonists -- such as Axid, Pepcid, Tagamet and Zantac -- appears to increase the incidence of C. difficile-associated disease (CDAD), Canadian researchers report."We did find that patients who were taking acid suppressive agents had a higher risk of developing CDAD than those who were not,” said lead author Dr. Sandra Dial, director of respiratory medicine at McGill University, in Montreal.The report appears in the Dec. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
