Cimetidine

Cimetidine (INN) is a histamine H₂ receptor antagonist that inhibits stomach acid production. It is largely used in the treatment of heartburn and peptic ulcers.

Cimetidine was discovered in 1971. It has been marketed by GlaxoSmithKline (which is selling the brand to Prestige Brands) under the trade name Tagamet (sometimes Tagamet HB or Tagamet HB200). Cimetidine was approved in the UK in 1976, and was approved in the US by the Food and Drug Administration for prescriptions starting January 1, 1979.

Medical uses

Other uses

Some evidence suggests cimetidine could be effective in the treatment of common warts, but more rigorous double-blind clinical trials found it to be no more effective than a placebo.

Another study used cimetidine for the treatment of chronic calcific tendinitis of the shoulder. The small-scale study took 16 individuals with calcific tendinitis in one shoulder, all of which had previously attempted other forms of therapy, including steroid injection and arthroscopic lavage. During the course of the study, 10 patients reported an elimination of pain and nine displayed a complete disappearance of calcium deposits. With results being on a small scale, cimetidine, for the treatment of chronic calcific tendinitis of the shoulder, has been recommended to be opened to large-scale clinical trials.