A common blood pressure drug Olmesartan has been associated with gastro-intestinal (GI) conditions, in a trial conducted by Mayo Clinic professionals. This medicine was found to have a range of side-effects like vomiting, nausea, weight loss, diarrhea, and celiac disease symptoms like electrolyte abnormalities.
Reported in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, the study constituted nearly 22 individuals having celiac disease-like symptoms. They also seemed to encounter all forms of GI issues like those mentioned above. However, blood reports did not put forth a celiac disease diagnosis for these participants. Their bodies did not respond to gluten-free diets or other forms of treatments for wheat allergies.
“We thought these cases were celiac disease initially because their biopsies showed features very like celiac disease, such as inflammation. What made them different was they didn’t have the antibodies in their blood that are typical for celiac disease,” remarked Dr. Murray, the lead author.
This implied that the trouble was elsewhere and that’s when Olmesartan emerged as the potential suspect. The drug doses were stopped for a cluster of people. Just as expected, the trial group’s symptoms alleviated substantially.
The drug Olmesartan works by increasing the space in blood vessels so that the blood flow is normal for heart to pump it optimally. The investigators adviced professionals to consider the drug as one of the causes for gastro-intestinal difficulties experienced by some people taking the same.
Further studies will explore the causes behind this association between Olmesartan and GI issues.