Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Likely to Follow Newly Diagnosed Asthma

Main Category: Respiratory / Asthma
Also Included In: Acid Reflux / GERD
Article Date: 19 Jul 2005 - 9:00 PDT

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In the first study to assess a connection between cases of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and asthma, in the same population, over the same time period, researchers found that patients who are diagnosed with asthma are at a significantly higher risk of a diagnosis of GERD.

Researchers from Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom examined data taken from the UK General Practice Research Database. Researchers followed a cohort of 5,653 patients recently diagnosed with GERD and 8,105 patients without GERD or asthma, for a mean time of 3 years and identified 103 cases of asthma in the GERD cohort and 99 cases of asthma in the control group.

During the same study period, researchers followed 9,712 patients with newly diagnosed asthma and 19,334 control subjects without asthma or GERD, for a mean of 2.8 years and found 219 patients with asthma developed GERD, compared to 241 control subjects who developed GERD during the study period.

Patients with asthma were most likely to receive a subsequent diagnosis of GERD within the first year of their diagnosis of asthma. Patients with a diagnosis of GERD were not found to be at significantly higher risk of developing asthma. The study appears in the July issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians.

CHEST is a peer-reviewed journal published by the ACCP. It is available online each month at www.chestjournal.org. ACCP represents 16,500 members who provide clinical respiratory, sleep, critical care, and cardiothoracic patient care in the United States and throughout the world. The ACCP's mission is to promote the prevention and treatment of diseases of the chest through leadership, education, research, and communication. For more information about the ACCP, please visit the ACCP Web site at chestnet.org.

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