From the ArcaMax Publishing, Health & Fitness Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/healthtips/s-382109-485002
DURHAM, N.C. (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say they have linked
gastroesophageal reflux disease -- or GERD -- to asthma.
The Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. study, published in
the European Journal of Clinical Investigation, used mice to determine
that minuscule amounts of gastric fluid in the lungs -- one of the
effects of GERD -- may have an effect on the immune system in a way
that may trigger asthma.
In laboratory experiments, mice exposed to gastric fluid in the lungs
in a process mimicking micro-aspiration in humans developed what
researchers call a T-helper type 2 response -- a type of immune system
reaction characteristic of asthma. The mice exposed to allergens --
but not gastric fluid -- responded in what the researchers say is a
more balanced manner -- an immune reaction consisting of both T-helper
type 1 and T-helper type 2 responses.
"This is the first experimental evidence in a controlled, laboratory
setting linking these two very common conditions in humans," study
senior author Dr. Shu Lin said in a statement. "These data suggest
that chronic micro-aspiration of gastric fluid can drive the immune
system toward an asthmatic response."
However, the researchers stress, everyone who suffers GERD won't get
asthma and the upside is GERD can be treated.