International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Women's health research has shown postmenopausal use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) for indigestion comes with additional risks.

A team at the Massachusetts General Hospital in the US analysed almost 80,000 females who had undergone the change between 2000 and 2008 and found they were 35 per cent more likely to suffer a hip fracture if they were using the medicines.

Furthermore, this figure rose to 50 per cent in those who smoked or had previously been a tobacco user, with the scientists pointing to the fact PPIs inhibit calcium absorption, making it easier to damage bones.

The findings, which were published on the British Medical Journal's online page bmj.com, showed 893 hip fractures were seen in the 79,899 women involved in the study over eight years.

A recent investigation published in the Archives of Internal Medicine and conducted by scientists at the Rochester Methodist Hospital, the Mayo Clinic, in Minnesota, US, found a link between taking statins after menopause and a higher risk of developing diabetes mellitus.

Posted by David Smith