Having to deal with asthma is bad enough, but one out of every three asthmatics also suffers from acid reflux. Doctors thought that treating acid reflux would also help the asthma but now a new study is casting doubts.
Having lived with asthma most of his life, Matthew Leitz is accustomed to always having his inhaler nearby.
"I would say about once a month I have something serious enough to call an asthma attack. Other than that it's a lot of wheezing and coughing."
But inhalers are only part of the prescription for some people with asthma. It's estimated that one out of three have another problem in common.
"There are a proportion of patients who for whatever reason have acid in their esophagus but they just don't feel it. It doesn't hurt; they don't really understand that it exists."
Doctors wanted to know if treating one condition -- the acid reflux -- could help both conditions.
Researchers gave people with asthma medicine to control their acid reflux, but after three years a new study shows those patients aren't any better off.
"They really had no improvement in their asthma symptoms and they were basically the same as the folks who just got a placebo or a sugar pill," said Dr. John Mastronarde of the Ohio State University Medical Center.
The findings are important because they could keep doctors from over-medicating those with asthma and acid reflux.
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