Metabolic

A common type of antacid can improve blood sugar control in people with diabetes

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) – a commonly used type of antacid – improved blood sugar control in people with diabetes.

Antacids improved blood sugar control in people with diabetes, but had no effect on reducing the risk of diabetes in the general population, according to a new meta-analysis published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Type 2 diabetes is a global public health problem that affects nearly 10 percent of people worldwide. Doctors can prescribe diet and lifestyle changes, diabetes medication, or insulin to help people with diabetes better control their blood sugar, but recent data suggests popular over-the-counter antacids as another way to improve glucose levels.

“Our research showed that prescribing antacids as an addition to standard therapy was superior to standard therapy in lowering hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and fasting blood sugar levels in people with diabetes,” said study author Carol Chiung-Hui Peng, MD, of , on the Midtown campus of the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

“In people without diabetes, taking antacids did not significantly change their risk of developing the disease,” said study author Huei-Kai Huang, MD of the Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital in Hualien, Taiwan.

Types of PPIs

There are many names and brands of PPIs. Most of them work the same. Side effects can vary from drug to drug.

  • Omeprazole (Prilosec)
  • Esomeprazole (nexium)
  • Lansoprazole (prevacid)
  • Rabeprazole (AcipHex)
  • Pantoprazole (Protonix)
  • Dexlansoprazole (dexilant)
  • Zegerid (omeprazole with sodium bicarbonate)

Researchers conducted a meta-analysis of the effects of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) – a commonly used type of antacid – on blood sugar levels in people with diabetes and whether these drugs could prevent diabetes from recurring in the general population.

The analysis included seven studies (342 participants) on blood sugar control and 5 studies (244, 439 participants) on the risk of developing diabetes.

The researchers found that antacids can lower HbA1c levels by 0.36% in people with diabetes and lower fasting blood sugar by 10 mg / dL, based on the results of seven clinical studies. For those without diabetes, the results of the five studies showed that antacids had no effect on reducing the risk of diabetes.

“People with diabetes should be aware that these commonly used antacids can improve their glycemic control, and providers may consider these blood sugar-lowering effects when prescribing these drugs for their patients,” said study author Kashif Munir, MD, associate professor in the Department of Endocrinology , Diabetes and Nutrition at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md.

Reference: “Effects of Proton Pump Inhibitors on Glycemic Control and Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis” by Carol Chiung-Hui Peng, Yu-Kang Tu, Gin Yi Lee, Rachel Huai-En Chang, Yuting Huang, Khulood Bukhari, Yao-Chou Tsai, Yunting Fu, Huei-Kai Huang, and Kashif M Munir, June 30, 2021, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
DOI: 10.1210 / clinem / dgab353

Other authors on the study include: Yuting Huang and Khulood Bukhari of the Midtown Campus of the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland; Yu-Kang Tu from National Taiwan University and Taipei Medical University in Taipei, Taiwan; Gin Yi Lee from Danbury Hospital in Danbury, Connecticut; Rachel Huai-En Chang of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland; Yao-Chou Tsai from Taipei Medical University; Yunting Fu from the University of Maryland at Baltimore, Md.

The manuscript received no third-party funding

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