Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) is a very common disease, usually not serious enough to be hospitalized, but sometimes uncomfortable; about GERD, there are many risk factors in our life, A recent large-scale article in 2020medical paperThe results of a large number of papers in the past are analyzed in a unified manner, and then the influence of many risk factors is clearly explained. The following is an excerpt of the key points of the paper:
Papers published in the journal Scientific Reports in 2020: "Global Prevalence and Risk Factors of Gastro-oesophageal Reflux Disease (GORD): Systematic Review with Meta-analysis”, its research team included past papers that met the standards into the analysis, these papers covered 37 countries, and conducted quantitative risk analysis for different risk factors of GERD, so as to understand the strength of the correlation of various factors. The following will divide the risk factors into two aspects: "living and living" and "diet":
living and living
1. live inmetropolitan areaPeople who lived in the suburbs had a significantly higher hazard ratio for the prevalence of GERD than those who lived in the suburbs (OR=2.23, RR=2.05).
2. is in useNSAIDs/AspirinThe hazard ratio for the prevalence of GERD was significantly higher in those who used it compared to those who did not (OR=1.46, RR=1.36).
3. InsmokingIn the habit part, although the prevalence rate of GERD in "non-smokers"/"ex-smokers"/"current smokers" showed a gradual upward trend (15.55%/16.83%/18.40%), However, in the hazard ratio analysis, the hazard ratio of "current smokers" was not significantly higher than that of "non-smokers" (OR=1.04, RR=1.04), but it is worth mentioning that the OR Or the 95% CI of RR crosses 1.00 a little bit.
diet
1. Eat moreCarbonated drinksThe hazard ratio for the prevalence of GERD was significantly higher in those with low or no intake (OR=1.29, RR=1.24).
2. Eat morecoffee TeaThe hazard ratio for the prevalence of GERD was significantly higher in those with low or no intake (OR=1.47, RR=1.38).
3. Eat moreAlcoholThe hazard ratio for the prevalence of GERD was significantly higher (OR=1.07, RR=1.06) compared with those with low or no intake.
4. For other analyses of special dietary habits, due to the lack of data, although the integrated analysis cannot be performed, the risk ratio analysis can still be performed on the existing data, and the result is that the intake is more.Spicy food, meat/fish, fried foodThe hazard ratio for the prevalence of GERD was significantly higher in those with low or no intake (OR=1.26/3.41/2.99, RR=1.23/2.80/2.61).
In addition to the above living/living/diet-related risk factors, there are other faceted risk factors that are also significantly associated with GERD, which will not be discussed in this article. If you are interested, please readpaper.
To sum up, it is recommended that readers who have trouble with gastroesophageal reflux shouldReduce the intake of coffee, tea, carbonated drinks, alcohol, fried food, spicy food, the source of protein intake, can be moderateChange some animal protein (meat/fish) to vegetable protein (soy), if necessaryWhen using NSAIDs/aspirin, follow the doctor's instructions and take stomach medicines, and it is recommended that during holidays,Go outdoors moreMobility of muscles and bones and relieve stress. In addition, if you have the habit of smoking, it is still recommendedquit smoking as soon as possible.
Finally, remind everyone, considerHelicobacter pylori infectionis one of the possible causes of gastroesophageal reflux, and chronic infection with this bacteria will be defined as a confirmed carcinogen in 2022 (seePreamble), therefore, if you have long-term gastroesophageal reflux, the author recommends that you should go to a medical institution for acceptanceCarbon-13 Helicobacter pylori breath test, in order to clarify whether there is Helicobacter pylori infection, if so, should receive appropriate drug treatment.
〈The author is former Attending Physician in National Taiwan University Hospital, and Master of Science from National Taiwan University〉
※ Author service related information※
【and a clinic】- Appointment Registration
【He Yi Health】- Product professional recommendation