Doubt cast on use of antacids

Press, 10 February 1986, Page 17

Doubt cast on use of antacids

NZPA-Reuter Boston Antacids and the popular anti-ulcer drug, cimetidine, are useless for relieving frequent painful indigestion, the fourth most common problem reported to doctors, according to a Swedish study. Most doctors prescribe antacids for indigestion in people who do not have ulcers. To determine if that treatment is effective, a team led by Dr Olof Nyren, of University Hospital in Uppsala, Sweden, studied 159 otherwise healthy people with frequent indigestion. The team’s findings were published in the “New England Journal of Medicine.” Some received cimetidine, which works by reducing the amount of acid produced by the stomach,

others received antacids which neutralise the stomach acid, and a third group was given a worthless placebo. In all three groups, the volunteers reported a 25 per cent reduction in pain, the patients taking the placebo doing as well as those taking the real medication, the - report said. Although there is a widespread belief that antacids do work, the scientists said their results clearly show that for people with indigestion who do not have an ulcer, “the neutralisation or suppression of (stomach) acid is of no clinical value.” They said the antacid treatments might seem to work because the attack of indigestion was likely to go away by itself.