Antacids help protect against squamous cancers of the pharynx and larynx

Antacids are a group of medicines which help neutralise the acid made in the stomach. The acid reflux causes heartburn. Antacids include  aluminium hydroxide, magnesium carbonate  and magnesium trisilicate.

 

Actually, antacids may provide more than soothing relief for heartburn. A new study suggests that it may decrease the risk of throat or vocal cord cancers in people with frequent heartburn who do not smoke or drink alcohol.

 

Dr. Scott Langevin of Brown University in Providence, RI and his colleagues compared 631 patients with throat or vocal cord cancers with 1234 matched controls. Among study participants who didn’t smoke or drink heavily, a history of frequent heartburn was linked with a 78% increased risk of developing throat or vocal cord cancer. But those who took over-the-counter antacids for heartburn relief had a 41% reduced risk for these cancers.

 

“It is biologically plausible that antacid use confers anticancer protection by neutralizing the pH of the reflux reaching the upper aerodigestive tract, leading to a decrease in inflammation and reducing DNA damage stemming from increased levels of cellular acidity,” Langevin said.

 

“Finding a potential protective effect of antacids could have important future clinical implications, but the result needs to be repeated in other studies before definitive conclusions can be reached about their benefits.”