Asthma and Reflux

Your doctor will be alert for other symptoms, such as frequent nonburning chest pain, bleeding into the gastrointestinal tract, dysphagia (difficulty in swallowing), hoarseness, or constant coughing and wheezing. Such symptoms may be associated with GERD, but could have other causes and might warrant tests to gain more information.

For example, GERD can cause respiratory problems such as asthmatic wheezing, coughing, or hoarseness. When asthma strikes adult nonsmokers with no history of lung disease or allergies, pH monitoring studies sometimes suggest that GERD is the culprit. More than 75% of patients with asthma experience reflux.

Researchers speculate that when caustic acid refluxes into the esophagus it triggers a nerve reflex that constricts the bronchial tubes (the branches of the trachea that lead into the lungs) and produces wheezing. Aspiration of acid into the bronchi may also play a role in causing these symptoms.

On the other hand, asthma may lead to gastroesophageal reflux, rather than vice versa, since the coughing and wheezing of asthma create pressure shifts in the chest that can produce reflux. In addition, theophylline and other bronchodilators, medications used to treat asthma, may weaken the LES.

For more information on testing, click here.