Acid Reflux Can Cause
Q: I remember seeing a post re:GERD and allergy within the last month.
One of my friends has a chronic cough and thinks it's related to his
GERD. Is this possible? Does anyone know of any good WWW sites or FAQs on GERD
A:GERD= gastro--esophageal-- reflux--disorder is the primary GI aspect of panic
disorder -- after numerous workups for the medical aspects of panic disorder, it
seems that GERD is a central part of panic disorder. In the research section of
this website you can find 24 hour tracings of gastric pH. What they show is that
bile is flowing backwards from the duodenum to the stomach, particularly during
sleep and not necessarily during an attack. Bile is alkaline, and the stomach
demands an acidic pH, and so it secretes large amounts of acid to neutralize the
bile. This produces a large volume of gastric contents which "reflux" from the
stomach up the esophagus. GERD can cause simple heartburn or regurgitation, but
dysmotility of the gut can cause gastric contents to be "shot" up the esophagus to
land on the posterior aspect of the sinuses causing chronic, recurrent sinusitis.
Gastric contents can also be aspirated to cause recurrent asthma and bronchitis.
Often a patient will wake up in the morning with laryngitis after nocturnal
aspiration of gastric contents. Treating the GERD is as important as treating the
panic attacks.