--- title: Dementia in Seniors Possibly Linked to Heartburn Drug description: A study showed that seniors who used heartburn drugs such as Nexium or Prilosec had a higher risk of dementia. canonical: https://time.com/4225830/heartburn-dementia-seniors/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-16T16:53:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:06:57.295Z article:section: Health og:title: Heartburn Drugs May Be Linked to Dementia in Seniors og:description: The study followed instances, not a cause-and-effect relationship of the drugs and dementia og:url: https://time.com/4225830/heartburn-dementia-seniors/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87db7512fd07fcd8/69887dca5f570f7188b1fa9c/heartburn-medicine-dementia-seniors-nexium-prilosec.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: AstraZeneca Plc Is Tougher Pfizer Inc. Target as Possible Bid Looms og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Heartburn Drugs May Be Linked to Dementia in Seniors twitter:description: The study followed instances, not a cause-and-effect relationship of the drugs and dementia twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87db7512fd07fcd8/69887dca5f570f7188b1fa9c/heartburn-medicine-dementia-seniors-nexium-prilosec.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Heartburn Drugs May Be Linked to Dementia in Seniors by [Claire Groden / Fortune](https://time.com/author/fortune/) ## Claire Groden / Fortune Feb 16, 2016 4:53 PM UTC  Bottles of AstraZeneca Plc's Nexium heartburn medication are arranged for a photograph at a pharmacy in Princeton, Illinois, U.S., on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014. Bottles of AstraZeneca Plc's Nexium heartburn medication are arranged for a photograph at a pharmacy in Princeton, Illinois, U.S., on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014.Daniel Acker—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Claire Groden / Fortune](https://time.com/author/fortune/) ## Claire Groden / Fortune Feb 16, 2016 4:53 PM UTC A popular group of heartburn drugs may be linked to dementia in seniors. A German study published in the medical journal [_JAMA Neurology_](http://archneur.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2487379) found that seniors who regularly took proton-pump inhibitors like Nexium, Prilosec, and Prevacid were 44% more likely to end up with dementia. Proton-pump inhibitors, commonly used to decrease acid in the stomach, are used by more than 15 million people, [according to NPR](http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/02/15/465279217/popular-heartburn-pills-can-be-hard-to-stop-and-may-be-risky). The study followed more than 73,000 elderly participants to track their use of the drug class and incidence of dementia, so it did not establish a cause-and-effect relationship. Prilosec is made by Procter & Gamble, AstraZeneca makes Nexium, and Takeda Pharmaceuticals makes Prevacid. In an editorial accompanying the study’s publication this week, University of Pittsburgh’s Lewis Kuller wrote: “Whether PPIs actually cause an increase in the risk of dementia is therefore an important question requiring further evaluation … This is a very important issue given the very high prevalence of pharmacological drugs’ long-term use in elderly populations that have a very high risk of dementia.” The study builds off previous findings that the drugs might increase the risk of heart disease and chronic kidney disease, NPR reported. P&G said in a statement that Prilosec is a “safe and effective” treatment for heartburn, and that patients should discuss any concerns with their doctors. _Fortune_ has reached out to AstraZeneca and Takeda for comment and will update this story if they respond. _This_ [_article_](http://fortune.com/2016/02/16/heartburn-drugs-dementia/) _originally appeared on_ [_Fortune.com_](http://www.fortune.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4225830/heartburn-dementia-seniors/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4225830/heartburn-dementia-seniors/"},"headline":"Heartburn Drugs May Be Linked to Dementia in Seniors","datePublished":"2016-02-16T16:53:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:06:57.295Z","description":"The study followed instances, not a cause-and-effect relationship of the drugs and dementia","url":"https://time.com/4225830/heartburn-dementia-seniors/","keywords":["medicine","study","Dementia"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87db7512fd07fcd8/69887dca5f570f7188b1fa9c/heartburn-medicine-dementia-seniors-nexium-prilosec.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Claire Groden / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87db7512fd07fcd8/69887dca5f570f7188b1fa9c/heartburn-medicine-dementia-seniors-nexium-prilosec.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"AstraZeneca Plc Is Tougher Pfizer Inc. 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