Health Life and Beauty

By Megan Rauscher

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In children with both asthma and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), treating the latter can improve the former, according to research presented Sunday at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in Seattle.

GERD is a common disease in which fluid from the stomach backs up into the esophagus, typically causing chronic heartburn and other symptoms, which can lead to erosion of the esophagus. In addition to drugs that reduce the secretion of this acidic fluid, GERD may be treated with a type of surgery called fundoplication that tightens the junction between the esophagus and stomach.

Previous studies in adults have suggested that as many as four out of five asthmatics experience the chronic cough and hoarseness of acid reflux. While the connections between asthma and GERD remain unclear, researchers have noticed that antireflux medications can sometimes help asthma symptoms.

“About two thirds of patients with asthma have underlying reflux and GERD has been implicated in provoking asthma,” Dr. Vikram Khoshoo, a pediatric gastroenterologist from West Jefferson Medical Center, New Orleans, who was involved in the study, told Reuters Health.

To investigate this relationship further, he and his colleagues had 62 children, between 6 and 11 years old, with asthma undergo esophageal acid testing. Forty-four children with abnormal results suggestive of GERD received anti-reflux therapy (either medical or surgical), while the remaining 18 patients served as the comparison group and continued their asthma regimen.

After 2 years, children receiving anti-reflux therapy experienced less than one asthma flare-up per year, compared with almost three flare-ups per year among other children.

Breathing tests confirmed improved lung function with anti-reflux therapy.

“We found that when you take children with persistent asthma and GERD and treat them with anti-reflux medication, their asthma outcomes are better, they require significantly less asthma medication over the years, and they have fewer exacerbations of asthma,” Khoshoo told Reuters Health.

GERD is being missed in a lot of children who have persistent asthma, Khoshoo noted. “I think the message has to be — if a child has persistent asthma without any risk factors or he has persistent asthma and despite adequate medication and compliance is not getting better, then it’s possible that reflux may be playing a role.”

When reflux is treated, there should be an improvement in symptoms outcome, a reduction in the need for asthma medications, and an improvement in lung function, he added.

Source

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related Posts:


By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two nonsurgical procedures relieve many symptoms of acid reflux disease including heartburn in people who are not helped by the medications typically used to treat it, U.S. researchers said on Friday. In this chronic condition, also called gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, stomach acid backs up into the esophagus, irritating its

Full Post: Nonsurgical acid reflux therapies work: U.S. study
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Stomach acid reflux or heartburn may be a particular problem for people with breathing problems such as emphysema or bronchitis, known generally as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD, researchers report. However, the reverse doesn’t seem to be the case, according to a study investigating the relationship between the two conditions. For

Full Post: COPD may trigger acid reflux problems
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You’ve tried altering your diet. Now try one of the newest and most effective medications for acid reflux to hit the market. Nexium is a powerful proton inhibitor that’s shown to significantly reduce acid levels in the stomach. In clinical testing, Nexium healed damage to the esophagus and stopped heartburn in nearly 9 out of

Full Post: Nexium is a powerful proton inhibitor
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Albuterol is often a doctor’s choice of medication to treat people who suffer with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This drug is known as a bronchodilator which means that it relieves the unpleasant symptoms associated with respiratory problems. Asthma is one of the most common medical conditions in the world – it affects

Full Post: Albuterol Online
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nexium is the best drug that is widely used for treating heart burn world wide. It is a prescription drug that is given to patients who are suffering from acid reflux diseases. This drug functions by blocking the acid production that takes place in the stomach though this only cures the disease symptoms but not

Full Post: About Nexium