Word: gerd
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Some 32% to 84% of asthma patients - the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute estimates there are more than 22 million in the U.S. - may suffer from acid reflux, or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), according to past research cited in the current study. Only about half of those patients have the usual symptoms of GERD, such as nausea, chest pain or heartburn, but doctors think the condition may exacerbate asthma, possibly by causing aspiration of acid into the lungs. The common practice, set forth by National Institutes of Health guidelines, is to treat asthmatic patients - particularly those who have severe...
...chronic asthma, the drugs had no impact on symptoms. Participants were randomly assigned to either a treatment or placebo group, and followed for six months using daily asthma diaries as well as spirometry tests and questionnaires at four-week intervals. Even among the roughly 40% of patients with confirmed GERD, the medication offered no benefit over the placebo...
...would argue that we should change clinical practice on this particular point," he adds, pointing out that many past studies that have associated PPIs with improved asthma symptoms were hindered by small sample size, lack of clear GERD diagnoses or loose definitions of asthma itself. "I certainly will change my practice based on the outcome of this study...
...Mastronarde cautions that asthma patients who have confirmed cases of GERD with noticeable symptoms, should continue to take their prescribed medication. But for many asthma patients who are given the drugs primarily as a treatment of asthma - even without a diagnosis of GERD - the medication may not be doing any good. "It is not going to help their asthma," Mastronarde says. What's more, the drugs may lead to unnecessary side effects and unwarranted cost...
...Merkel's win in one of Germany's biggest states, a financial center and home to the European Central Bank, puts wind in her sails as she campaigns on behalf of her party and for her own re-election in September. Gerd Langguth, a political scientist and Merkel biographer, says the Hesse result means Merkel's return to the Chancellery is assured. The real question is whether Merkel will be able to form a coalition with the FDP or continue the so-called grand coalition with the left-leaning Social Democrats (SPD), he says. "Merkel believes that it would...