Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease and Asthma: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is defined by retrograde reflux of gastric contents to the esophagus leading to various signs and symptoms that range from heartburn/regurgitation to the development of extraesophageal respiratory syndromes like asthma. Although a cause-effect relationship has been proposed, evidence suggests that these two entities share a complex mechanism that may be reciprocal to each other. The understanding of the underlying mechanisms is imperial due to the fact that asthmatic patients may benefit from reflux therapy with subsequent improvement in pulmonary function testing and quality of life. This study has revised available literature in order to provide evidence for a nexus between GERD and asthma based on clinical correlation, pathophysiology, and pharmacologic management.

Keywords: asthma; clinical correlation; gastroesophageal reflux disease (gerd); pathophysiology; pharmacologic management.

Figure 1. Proposed mechanisms between GERD and asthma.

GERD: gastroesophageal reflux disease The image is created by the author (Xavier Grandes) of this study.