Researchers at Digestive Disease Week 2009—a gathering of gastroenterologists, liver specialists, and others who focus on the region of your insides that handles food—reported yesterday that using some popular heartburn drugs may raise the risk of hip fracture.

The heartburn drugs in question are the particularly effective acid-squelchers known as proton pump inhibitors (such as Prevacid, Nexium, and Prilosec), as well as another group that’s a little less effective in its acid-blocking, the histamine—2 receptor antagonists (Zantac and Tagamet, among others). Because of some early hints that people on these drugs were experiencing a higher rate of fracture, researchers at Kaiser Permamente in California analyzed data on about 170,000 people—comparing the approximately 40,000 who were on acid-reducers to the 130,000 who weren’t. The risk of hip fracture was about 30 percent higher in people who’d been on acid-blockers for at least two years; the risk went up with longer use and higher doses.

These drugs are considered to be pretty safe, the researchers say, but it may be that you need a certain amount of stomach acid to properly absorb calcium.

If you’re prone to heartburn, don’t overstuff at meals, don’t rush, and don't go straight to bed after eating. It can help to lose a few pounds, too. You can find more heartburn-avoidance tips here.