In a new study, researchers found that gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a digestive disorder that causes heartburn and other uncomfortable symptoms, may affect nearly a third of U.S. adults each week.
Most of those who take certain popular medications for it still have symptoms.
The research was conducted by a team at Cedars-Sinai.
Also known as acid reflux, GERD is caused by gastric acid from the stomach flowing back up into a person’s food pipe, or esophagus.
This backup can happen when the lower esophageal sphincter, a muscle that briefly opens to let food into the stomach and closes to take food inside, relaxes too often or too long.
Besides causing the burning sensation in the throat and chest known as heartburn, GERD can damage tissues and cause food to be regurgitated.
In the study, the team conducted an online survey of more than 71,000 people age 18 or over across the U.S., asking them if they experienced specific GERD symptoms and how often, and if they were taking drugs for it.
Out of 71,812 people who responded to the survey, 44.1% reported experiencing GERD symptoms in the past and 30.9% in the last week.
The researchers found that more than half of GERD patients who took popular over-the-counter drugs known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), designed to reduce the amount of acid in the stomach, still reported persistent symptoms.
They also found that certain categories of people, including younger people, women, Latinos, and people with irritable bowel syndrome or Crohn’s disease, were less likely to respond to PPIs.
The team says given the significant effect of GERD on quality of life for millions of Americans, further research and development of new therapies are needed to help patients whose disease does not respond to PPIs.
This study is among the largest and most diverse population-based studies on gastrointestinal symptoms ever conducted.
One author of the study is Brennan Spiegel, MD, MSHS, director of Cedars-Sinai’s Health Service Research, professor of Medicine.
The study is published in the journal Gastroenterology.
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