A combination of ceftriaxone and lansoprazole could be dangerous for your heart--NEW RESEARCH

Recent research uncovers dangerous drug interactions 

 

A potentially dangerous drug interactions have been uncovered in a recent research made at Columbia University Medical Center and the Data Science Institute at Columbia University data science. These findings were published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Though safe when taken on their own, some prescription drugs become deadly when combined. Many of these interactions are well known, but others remain hidden to doctors, drug companies, and patients. Identifying these risky combinations has become a priority as the number of individual on multiple medications rises. A pair that was studied - ceftriaxone, an antibiotic sold under the brand name Rocephin, and lansoprazole, a heartburn medication sold as Prevacid - are widely prescribed, and alone carry no known heart-related risks. But together, it was discovered that they may increase the chance that patients develop a heart condition known as long QT syndrome, which can cause abnormal heart rhythms and, in rare cases, sudden death. The study finds that patients taking ceftriaxone and lansoprazole together were 1.4 times more likely to have a prolonged QT interval than people who were taking either of these drugs alone.
As anticipated, neither drug on its own had an effect on an electrical pathway called the hERG channel, which helps the heart maintain a normal rhythm. When combined, however, the drugs block the channel's electrical signal responsible for maintaining a normal QT interval.