HEALTH & SCIENCE

Salt intake and smoking play major roles in GERD

Heartburn experts praised a Norwegian study but add that there is not yet enough evidence to eliminate dietary restrictions on alcohol, coffee and tea consumption.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. Dec. 13, 2004.

The usual bits of advice -- that gastroesophageal reflux disease patients give up on alcohol, coffee and tea -- may not actually be words of wisdom, according to a study published in this month's Gut.

Scandinavian researchers analyzed data from two extensive public health surveys of thousands of people in Norway. They found that smoking, long considered a culprit in causing GERD, increased the risk of the disease by 70%. The use of table salt, which has never been implicated in this condition, also increased the risk by 70%.

Alcohol, coffee and tea intake did not appear to make a difference. Dietary fiber and regular exercise seemed to be protective.

"The present study indicates an important role for exogenous exposures in the form of lifestyle-related factors in the etiology of GERD," wrote the authors.

Heartburn experts widely praised the study for taking a closer look at the eating, drinking and other activities that may play a role in the disease's development and for suggesting a research path that might lead to prevention strategies.

"This study brings up the under-appreciated point that lifestyle-related factors may bring on the very common symptoms of heartburn," said A. Mark Fendrick, MD, a member of the medical advisory board of the National Heartburn Alliance and professor of internal medicine and health management and policy at the University of Michigan Medical School. "And maybe we can try to prevent the disease process from starting."

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