PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Walid Tarsin
AU  - Ishrak Alshamli
AU  - Ebtesam Alabbasi
AU  - Ebtisam Naas
AU  - Mokhthar Soussi
TI  - The relationship between acidic & non acidic gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD) and asthma
DP  - 2011 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - p3993
VI  - 38
IP  - Suppl 55
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p3993.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p3993.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2011 Sep 01; 38
AB  - Asthma is a chronic airway disease characterized by airway constriction, inflammation, and hyper responsiveness to specific and non specific stimuli. GERD is a potential trigger of asthma. The relationship between asthma and GERD has been recognized for many years. Asthma symptoms; cough and chest discomfort may overlap with those of gastro esophageal reflux, making it difficult to distinguish between the two conditions. The study was designed to be for 3 months, with a monthly follow up visit to investigate the relation between asthma and acidic, non acidic GERD. Patients were divided to three groups; 1.Chang Life style (CLS) plus Omeprazole (G1) 2.Omeprazole (G2) 3.CLS (G3). GERD symptoms, Lung function (LF), asthma control test (ACT), and the asthma control questionnaires (ACQ) were measured for all patient at every visit. Fifty four asthmatic patients having the symptoms of GERD were enrolled in the study. Their mean (SD) age was 48.6 (12.6) years, 21 Patient started in G1, 21 Patient in the G2 and 12 patients in G3. From the initial results in table 1 it was clear that Omeprazole alone does not show the optimum improvement in the ACT. The results showed that the level of improvement in GERD symptoms was the same in G1&G3. In contrast 100% improvement in LF was seen in G1 while only 38% in G3, which may be due to the effect of the non acidic GERD.View this table:Table 1. Level of improvement of LF, ACQ, ACT and GERD symptoms in visit 2In conclusion, CLS can improve the GERD symptoms but it should be combined with the PPI in order to improve the asthma control.