This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Weight loss linked to reduced, eliminated reflux symptoms
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Patients with gastroesophageal reflux symptoms who lost weight were more likely to experience a reduction or loss of their symptoms than those who did not in a recent study.
As part of the ongoing HUNT study, researchers in Norway evaluated responses to questionnaires on gastroesophageal reflux symptoms (GERS) and antireflux medication use completed by 29,610 participants (aged 20 years and older) between 1995 and 1997 and also between 2006 and 2009, along with changes to BMI.
GERS were reported by 31.4% of the cohort during the 1995-1997 survey, including 5.2% with severe symptoms. Among those with any GERS, 25.8% reported an absence of symptoms in the second survey, while 18.3% of severe GERS patients at baseline indicated symptom loss and 46.9% reported minor symptoms.
Investigators noted a dose-dependent association between weight loss and a reduction in reflux symptoms (P<.001 for trend). Those who lost 3.5 units in BMI or more and were taking at least weekly medication weekly were more likely to experience symptom loss (OR=3.95; 95% CI, 2.03-7.65 compared with those with less than a 0.5-unit change) than those taking less frequent or no medication (OR=1.98; 95% CI, 1.45-2.72).
The association between BMI loss and GERS was only present among severe GERS patients taking antireflux medication at least once weekly, for symptom loss (OR=3.11; 95% CI, 1.13-8.58 or a BMI decrease of more than 3.5 units compared with a change of less than 0.5 units) and symptom reduction (OR=2.12; 95% CI, 0.89-5.02). This association also was dose-dependent (P=.047 for trend for loss; P=.008 for reduction).
“Weight loss was dose-dependently associated with reduction of GERS and increased chance of treatment success with antireflux medication,” the researchers wrote. “The study also suggests that patients with GERD using regular antireflux medication might benefit from weight reduction.
“Because of the observational design of the study, strict causality cannot be implied. However, the consistent and dose-related association between weight loss and reduction of GERS, which is preserved after adjustment for possible important confounders, argues for a valid conclusion.”
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts