Acid reflux is a term that is commonly used to describe a disease known as gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD. Those afflicted with the disease have a problem in their digestive tract that causes small amounts of fluid from the stomach to be allowed back up into the esophagus. The fluid is often very high in acidic content, and can cause major damage to the esophagus, in addition to causing the afflicted person much pain due to heartburn, one of the most common symptoms of GERD. What’s also of importance to note is the fact that a GERD condition can eventually lead to cancer of the esophagus.
In the June 1st issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers put forth the assertion that minor gains in body weight are linked to a possibility of developing the chronic disease. A research study was conducted by Dr. B Jacobson of the Boston University School of Medicine that showed that when the body is exposed to a minor weight gain that may not cause any other problems with a person’s health, they run a higher chance of developing a case of acid reflux.
Throughout the years, numerous studies have shown that overweight people face an increased risk of developing acid reflux. However, this is the first study that has shown that with a small increase in body mass index, the likelihood of developing GERD is vastly increased.
The research study was conducted as follows:
10,545 women were asked to complete a questionnaire that asked several questions regarding the amount of times they’ve experienced symptoms of GERD, how severe the symptoms were, and how long they’ve been occurring. The body mass indexes of all of the female participants were taken, and the data was cross-referenced with the questionnaire in order to come up with some statistics. The results of the study showed the following:
- 22 percent of all of the women experienced acid reflux symptoms at least once per week. – Women that had a body mass index that was less than 20 were a third less likely to suffer from acid reflux when compared to women whose body mass indexes hovered between 20 and 22.4. – Women in the study who had a body mass index ranging from 22.5 to 24.9 were found to have a 38% higher chance of developing GERD then those whose indexes ranged from 20 to 22.4.
The differences in body fat between body mass indexes of 20 and 24.9 do not account for much of a difference in a person’s physique. A body mass index of 25 or above denotes that a woman is overweight, so all of the women in the study did not have a significant weight problem. The study does show that there is a correlation that is statistically significant between body mass index and a person’s likelihood of developing GERD. While this study doesn’t solve the problem of acid reflux, it definitely represents an important understanding of the disease. While weight loss is not a sure-fire way to decrease your acid reflux symptoms, if you’ve gained a little weight recently, losing a few pounds might help to alleviate the condition to some degree.
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