PPI's Increase Heart Attack Risk

One of the world's most widely-used classes of drugs could significantly increase your risk of suffering a heart attack; that's according to a new study by researchers at Stanford University, in California and published in PloS One this week. Nick Leeper and Nigam Shah used a computer programme to identify patients who were using so-called proton pump inhibitors or PPIs; these block stomach acid production so they're useful for treating conditions like heartburn. But there might be serious side effects, as Nick Leeper explains to Chris Smith... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists