What is "cimetidine"

n. A histamine H2-receptor antagonist that inhibits the production of acid in the stomach, mainly used to treat heartburn and peptic ulcers, but notorious for causing male impotence.

n. a drug (trade name Tagamet) used to treat peptic ulcers by decreasing the secretion of stomach acid [syn: Tagamet]

Cimetidine ( INN, USAN, BAN, JAN) (brand name Tagamet, numerous others), or cimetidine hydrochloride ( USAN), is a histamine H receptor antagonist that inhibits stomach acid production and is used clinically as an antacid. It is available over-the-counter and is mainly 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 United Kingdom in 1976, and was approved in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration for prescriptions in 1979.

The development of longer-acting H receptor antagonists with fewer drug interactions and adverse effects, such as ranitidine and famotidine, proved to be the downfall of cimetidine, and though it is still used, cimetidine is no longer among the more widely used of the H-receptor antagonists.