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Panacea or Placebo?

Richard W. Welch, MD

Arch Intern Med. 1978;138(8):1208-1209.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Cimetidine, a new gastric antisecretory drug, has been available in the United States since August 1977 and is enjoying remarkable popularity with physicians. Schlippert, in a review in this issue (p 1257), concludes that it is an expensive second choice to antacid therapy in the treatment of duodenal ulcer. This editorial will examine his position and provide additional information from clinical trials not reviewed by Schlippert.

Cimetidine is the most powerful gastric antisecretory drug known; a single dose will reduce basal acid output by about 90% for six hours.¹ One 300-mg tablet will likewise reduce vagal, histamine, gastrin, and food-stimulated acid output by 60% to 70% for four to six hours.² This level of acid reduction is similar to vagotomy and pyloroplasty, a proved treatment for duodenal ulcer.

As Schlippert points out, both US and European trials have shown cimetidine to be superior at two weeks of therapy . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
Department of Medicine University of Texas Health Science Center 7703 Floyd Curl Dr San Antonio, TX 78284

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