Story highlights People taking PPIs had a 96% increased risk of kidney failure, compared to people who took alternative, a new study shows

Patients take PPIs for heart burn, ulcers and acid reflux and gastroesophageal reflux disease

(CNN) Taking one of the most-prescribed medications in the world -- proton pump inhibitors -- might dramatically increase a person's risk for kidney failure and kidney disease, new research suggests. The study was released Thursday in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Doctors prescribe proton pump inhibitors , also known as PPIs, to help people who suffer from regular heart burn, ulcers, gastroesophageal reflux disease or acid reflux. They are sold under the names Prevacid, Prilosec, Nexium, Protonix, Aciphex and others. About 15 million Americans have prescriptions for them, although people can get them without a prescription -- so the number who use them is likely much higher.

The medications are popular because they relieve symptoms pretty quickly. It was also thought that they had a low toxicity.

Looking at data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the study's authors found 173,321 people who used PPIs and 20,270 took a PPI alternative known as histamine H2 receptor blockers. The authors, who work at Washington University in St. Louis and at the Clinical Epidemiology Center at the VA St. Louis Health Care System, analyzed data from these patients five years later.

They found that a large percentage of those patients who were taking PPIs were now having more kidney problems than those patients who took the alternative histamine H2 receptor blockers.