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It isn\u2019t difficult to understand why acid reflux causes problems in the esophagus and throat since the acid directly affects those areas.<\/p>\nIt isn\u2019t difficult to understand why acid reflux causes problems in the esophagus and throat since the acid directly affects those areas.<\/p>\n
The lungs, however\u2014that\u2019s another story.<\/p>\n
A new study in the European Respiratory Journal<\/em> reveals a shocking connection between acid reflux and a serious lung disease that may only leave you three years to live.<\/p>\n Acid reflux has been associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in previous studies. This is a chronic and gradually worsening lung disease characterized by the formation of scar tissue (fibrosis) in the lungs. Scarring prevents the lungs from expanding and contracting properly, which compromises breathing.<\/p>\n Previous studies haven\u2019t shown, however, whether acid reflux causes IPF, IPF causes acid reflux, or if other factors, such as smoking, contribute to both conditions.<\/p>\n To determine whether there is a causal relationship between acid reflux and IPF and, if so, which way the causal relationship runs, the authors of the new study employed a method called bidirectional Mendelian randomization using genetic data.<\/p>\n What exactly did they do?<\/p>\n They considered genetic variants that are strongly linked with acid reflux. These are inherited from parents, not influenced by environmental factors.<\/p>\n They then checked a large population to see whether IPF later developed in people with these genetic vulnerabilities to acid reflux.<\/p>\n They then turned the study around and identified the IPF genes before checking whether acid reflux developed later in people with those genes.<\/p>\n This approach allowed them to tell which was the cause and which was the effect, or which was present first and which followed later.<\/p>\n This study used the largest available genome-wide association meta-analyses on acid reflux (78,707 cases and 288,734 controls) and IPF (4,125 cases and 20,464 controls).<\/p>\n Here is what they found out:<\/p>\n 1.\tParticipants with acid reflux were 1.6 times more likely to develop IPF than those without acid reflux. <\/p>\n 2.\tThere was no evidence of a causal effect of IPF on the risk of developing acid reflux.\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n This means that acid reflux is the culprit behind some IPF cases.<\/p>\n IPF is incredibly serious, with a survival rate of only three years. This is another reason to address your acid reflux ASAP!<\/p>\n\n