| Epidemic of Childhood Obesity May Generate Epidemic of Childhood GERD |
 In a study of overweight and obese children participating in a study evaluating the health benefits of exercise, 25% of the overweight children were found to have GERD symptoms. GastroSource spoke with one of the senior authors of the study, Marek Lukacik, MD, to ask his opinion about the clinical implications of the results.
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| Increased Body Weight May Not Just Increase GERD Risk But GERD Perception |
 One potential explanation for the greater prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in obese patients is that increased weight generates increased intragastric pressure. GastroSource spoke with the lead author of the study, Kathleen Blondeau, PhD.
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| Heartburn, Although Enormously Common, Is Generally Left Untreated in Pregnancy |
 Heartburn is a common complaint in pregnant women, but a new study that assessed 2,731 women over the course of pregnancy, has provided new detail about the incidence and course of this complaint. GastroSource spoke with Dr. Naumann about this.
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| Extraesophageal Symptoms of GERD: Current Status on Acid Suppression |
 Dr Reza Shaker reviewed the evidence for using acid suppressive therapy to treat purported extraesophageal symptoms of GERD. Acid does appear to be a pathogenic factor in some proportion of patients, but these are hard to predict. Dr Shaker concluded that there are no easy answers.
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| Eosinophilic Esophagitis: Tracing the origins of Disease |
 The incidence of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), a disorder that is commonly confused with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), appears to be increasing rapidly in many parts of the world. The reason is not well understood, but there are several theories. Dr Spechler talked to GastroSource about this.
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| Dueling Risks: GI Bleeds versus Cardiovascular Events with Antiplatelet Agents |
 In patients on antiplatelet therapies, the reduced risk of cardiovascular disease must be weighed against the increased risk of gastrointestinal (GI) bleeds. Dr Scheiman spoke with GastroSource on some key points related to this.
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| Therapy for GERD Remains Imperfect; Expert Summarizes Promise of Alternative Strategies |
 Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are highly effective for healing esophagitis, but they have been less reliable for eliminating symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Dr Castell provides insight about why current therapies do not always achieve durable symptom relief.
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| Long-Term Safety Issues for PPIs: A Critical Evaluation |
 Many patients who take proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) remain on their PPI medication indefinitely. Although PPIs have been very well tolerated in short-term studies, there have been a variety of reports of the potential for complications stemming from chronic therapy. Professor M Vaezi evaluated and summarized the published data at the DDW.
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| State of the Art: The diagnosis of non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) |
 In patients with ambiguous symptoms of non-erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease (NERD), a definitive diagnosis is challenging. Dr. Smout stressed that for a positive diagnosis of NERD one needs a test or a combination of tests that demonstrate that the patient’s symptoms are due to reflux.
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| GERD patients inadequately controlled with PPIs: New Drugs |
 Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are the mainstay of treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), but not all patients achieve an adequate response. Dr. Galmiche reviewed the current efforts to find agents that can replace or be combined with PPIs in non-responders or partial responders.
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