VALDOSTA – Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are some of the most popular drugs on shelves today.

Acid reflux and and heartburn are two of the most common ailments among people.

However, PPIs – used to suppress acid production in the stomach – have been linked that long-term use of them increase stomach cancer risks by a whopping 250 percent.

The risks are associated with a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori , carried by more than half of the world’s population – most often harmlessly, but in a small percentage of people, the bug has been tied to the development of stomach cancer. Previous research found that people with an ongoing Helicobacter pylori infection taking a PPI stood a greater chance of developing a precursor to stomach cancer, called atrophic gastritis.”

Unnecessary long-term use should be avoided.

Daily PPI use was associated with a 4.55 times greater risk of cancer than baseline, and became as high as an 8-fold greater risk if the drugs were taken for more than three years.

Of course, as significant as the increased risk is, we should also bear in mind that the overall risk factor is still low.

Per the study, long-term use of PPIs was only associated with about four additional cases of stomach cancer per 10,000 people per year, which is worth keeping in perspective.