La Prensa Médica

Gastroesophageal reflux disease in Asthma

Bilal Jamal Kamal 

Asthma is one of the commonest chronic respiratory system diseases that affect a huge number world wild and it’s incidence is increasing day by day, and it can affect the daily activity of the patient and cause disability which can affect his performance at job, and there are a lot of factors which can exacerbate asthma. Gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) symptoms like  burning sensation in your chest (heartburn),commonly exacerbated by eating, and usually worse at night, difficulty swallowing, regurgitation of food or sour liquid,chest pain, sensation  , occurs when the opening between the stomach and esophagus doesn’t work the way it should, as the esophagus connects the stomach by the throat, so the gastric acid can irritate the airways and trigger an asthmatic attack with cough, wheeze, dyspnea and chest tightness. Condition that increase the risk for GERD are : drugs like,  Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), Biphosphonate drugs, smooking, spicy meals, coffee, alcohol, eating heavy meals at night. Both gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and asthma are common diseases and prevalence is increasing day by day affecting millions of people worldwide, a lot of studies showed significant association between gastroesophageal reflux disease and asthma, even it was more than 80% of asthmatic patients were’ complaining from gastroesophageal reflux symptoms in some studies.  In a study 89% of all patients with asthma, were complaining from gastroesophageal symptoms regardless of their sex, age, or ethnic background. (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology). Asthmatic patients has double risk of having gastroesophageal reflux disease, especially those patients who are chronic persistent and poorly controlled asthma, or those who are resistant to treatment. GERD symptoms occur as a result of backward flow of stomach acidic content it to the esophagus, as a result it can produce severe chest pain, burning sensation ( called heartburn), as a result of acid micro-inhalation to lung exacerbation of asthma symptoms occur and can affect esophageal mucosa causing Barrett’s esophagus, in which there is risk of malignancy.