COMMENTARY

Gastro-oesophageal reflux

Body measures in relation to gastro-oesophageal reflux

Jesper Lagergren

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr Jesper Lagergren
Unit of Esophageal and Gastric Research (ESOGAR), Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska University Hospital, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden; jesper.lagergren@ki.se

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Association between overweight and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) has become established in large-scale analytical epidemiological research. There is a dose-dependent association between increasing body mass index and GORD

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The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

An association between overweight and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) has long been suspected and observed in case series. Recently, this association has become established in large-scale analytical epidemiological research.^1,2 In a recent meta-analysis based on the available literature, it was concluded that there is a dose-dependent association between increasing body mass index (BMI) and GORD, usually assessed as typical reflux symptoms—that is, heartburn or regurgitation.³ The precise strength of this association is difficult to assess, but it seems that persons with a BMI >30 kg/m² are at an about twofold increased risk of GORD than persons of normal weight. Interestingly, it seems that any increase in BMI, even within the range of what is considered normal BMI, is associated with a gradually increased risk of reflux symptoms.² A similar finding has been observed with regard to the relation between increased BMI and adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus,⁴ a cancer . . . [Full text of this article]

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