When prescribing any high-dosage medication, doctors also prescribe pantoprazole, commonly sold as Pantop-DSR or PAN-DSR, to keep the stomach acid balanced.
Acid reflux is when the stomach acid flows into the oesophagus, usually after a meal or when lying down. People with acid reflux may experience heartburn and ulcers.
“Given the wide usage of acid-reducing drugs and these potential implications with migraine, these results warrant further investigation,” said study author Margaret Slavin.
She added that these drugs are often overprescribed, “and new research has shown other risks tied to long-term use of proton pump inhibitors, such as an increased risk of dementia”.
Neurologist Dr Sudhir Kumar said it was possible that these observed associations were related to comorbidity between gastrointestinal (GI) conditions and migraine disease.
Dr Clifford Segil, one of the authors of the study, said that PPIs’ effect on magnesium absorption in the body could have a strong role in migraine episodes or severe headaches.