Prescription antacids associated with increased risk of allergies

Ingesting antacids is associated with an increased risk of allergies, a new study finds. Researchers looked at the health records of more than 8 million Austrians and found that those who took prescription antacids were almost twice as likely to develop allergies than those who didn’t take the medications. This was especially true in women and people over the age of 60, two groups that had a higher likelihood of being prescribed anti-allergy medications after being prescribed antacids. The authors hypothesize that the relationship may be explained by the fact that antacids raise the pH in the stomach to alleviate acidity, as opposed to some drug-specific action. One caveat: The scientists didn’t have access to other symptoms and diseases experienced by the people included in the study, so there may be other factors influencing the findings.