Nexium, a popular heartburn medication, has been linked to serious conditions including Nexium adverse side effects such as kidney failure.

Nexium belongs to a class of heartburn medications called proton pump inhibitors. Proton pump inhibitors affects acid reflux and heartburn by creating lower levels of acid in the stomach.

Nexium, like other PPIs such as Prilosec, are sold as prescription medication as well as over the counter.

In 2013 alone, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) like Nexium were used by 15 million Americans.

According to Dr. Morgan Grams, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, those who use proton pump inhibitors have a 20 percent to 50 percent higher risk of chronic kidney disease or Nexium adverse side effects as compared to people who do not use proton pump inhibitors.

His study was published in JAMA on January 11, 2016.

Grams noted that the study did not exactly establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship between proton pump inhibitors and chronic kidney disease. But, he said, “We found there was an increasing risk associated with an increasing dose. That suggests that perhaps this observed effect is real.”

It was also discovered that as many as 70 percent of Nexium and other PPI prescriptions may have been handed out inappropriately.

It may be true that as many as 25 percent of users that have used Nexium and other proton pump inhibitors long term may stop taking the medications and suffer no adverse effects like increased acid reflux or heartburn.

But, unfortunately, there have been many Nexium adverse side effects reported in connection with the drug.

Nexium Adverse Side Effects

One of the most serious of these Nexium side effects is chronic kidney disease. There have been recent studies that show a connection between PPIs and acute kidney injury as well as inflammatory kidney disease, called acute interstitial nephritis.

Chronic kidney disease is a condition in which the kidneys lose their ability to filter blood effectively. Chronic kidney disease, over time, can lead to kidney failure. Those who suffer kidney failure may have to undergo dialysis and perhaps a kidney transplant.

According to this new study, while looking at the medical records of 250,000 patients in Pennsylvania, researchers found that those who used PPIs were more likely to have health problems, such as obesity, high blood pressure and heart problems.

They also found that PPI users, including those who take Nexium, had an increased risk of kidney disease over ten years.

Moreover, those who used the drugs twice a day were found to have reported more Nexium adverse side effects than those who only took them once a day. Twice-daily users were associated with a 46 percent increased risk of chronic kidney disease, versus a 15 percent increased risk in those taking one daily dose.

Grams noted that PPIs like Nexium can affect magnesium levels and that a lack of this mineral can damage the kidneys. Also, over time, if patients suffer from repeated bouts of acute kidney inflammation, this can damage the kidneys.

Dr. Arun Swaminath, director of the inflammatory bowel disease program at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, has become cautious of the use of PPIs. Gastroenterologists already believe PPIs have associated risks, including bone fractures and infections of C. difficile and pneumonia.

Swaminath noted, “We have started to limit the time you have to be on it, and limit the amount you take.”

This study is not a clinical trial and therefore does not prove any Nexium adverse side effects, but instead suggests something that bears more research and looking into.