Complaints of chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease have nearly doubled over the past decade, new research from Norway suggests. According to ABC News, heartburn and acid reflux symptoms have increased due to the rising obesity epidemic across much of the Western world.
And that can be dangerous. The stomach acid at work in heartburn scars the esophagus and causes food to get stuck on its way down. It also can lead to esophageal cancer if untreated, ABC said.
To determine the increase of gastroesophageal reflux, researchers from health institutions in Norway monitored 30,000 Norwegians in the years between 1995 and 2009. By tracking their responses to a national health survey, they were able to find that acid reflux symptoms increased by 30 percent at the end of the study. Reports of severe acid reflux rose by 24 percent.
“For these people, their quality of life is majorly affected,” said lead researcher Eivind Ness-Jensen of the Levanger Hospital. “Maybe more alarming is that the symptoms are associated with esophageal cancer.”
Ness-Jensen blamed the increase in heartburn and acid reflux on the increasing tide of obesity in Norway and other countries.
“It’s purely mechanical in one way,” he told ABC. “Added weight increases the pressure between the stomach and esophagus, [forcing acid back up]. There’s an increasing weight problem in the population. That’s the most important factor.”
