on PinterestA new study linked certain medications that treat irritable bowel syndrome to a higher risk of early death, but the overall risk is low.
on PinterestA new study linked certain medications that treat irritable bowel syndrome to a higher risk of early death, but the overall risk is low. Laura Herrera/Stocksy
- Researchers say some medications prescribed for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may increase a person’s risk of early death.
- However, experts say that risk is relatively small and the benefits of using medication to ease the discomfort of IBS outweighs these concerns.
- They add that people with IBS can also manage symptoms by adhering to a diet that minimizes trigger foods, as well as exercising daily and managing stress.
Some medications commonly prescribed to treat symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may increase the long-term risk of early death, a new study reports.
Scientists from Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University in Los Angeles say that long-term use of two of the medications — loperamide and diphenoxylate — is associated with approximately double the risk of death.
They added that long-term use of antidepressants to treat IBS symptoms was associated with a 35% higher risk of death.
However, the researchers noted that although the overall increase in risk is statistically significant, the risk to any individual is small.
“IBS patients should not panic, but they do need to understand and weigh the small but meaningful risks when considering long-term treatments,” said Ali Rezaie, MD, the medical director of the GI Motility Program at Cedars-Sinai and senior author of the study, in a statement.
Nonetheless, Rezaie said the findings, published on April 8 in Communications Medicine, are noteworthy.
“Many patients are diagnosed with IBS at a young age and may remain on medications for years,” Rezaie said. “However, most clinical trials of these medications last less than a year, so we know very little about their long-term safety. This study begins to address that gap.”
Rudolph Bedford, MD, a gastroenterologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, said that the research only establishes an association between IBS medications and risk of death and not a direct cause-and-effect relationship. Bedford wasn’t involved in the study.
“The risk to any one person is small, so there is no reason to panic,” he told Healthline.
Bedford added that the symptoms of IBS can be painful and even debilitating, so in many cases, the medications do far more good than harm. “It’s about quality of life at the end of the day,” he said. “The benefits definitely outweigh the risks for many patients.”
Long-term health risks of IBS medications
The Cedars-Sinai researchers reached their conclusions after examining two decades of health records from nearly 670,000 adults in the United States.
They said their research is the largest real-world study to examine the long-term safety of IBS treatments.
Researchers looked at study participants who were taking IBS medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as antidepressants, antispasmodics, and opioid-based antidiarrheal drugs such as loperamide and diphenoxylate.
They acknowledged their study did not establish that these medications directly cause death. Instead, they said the observed associations may reflect higher rates of adverse outcomes, such as cardiovascular events, falls, and stroke.
They added that some medications,
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