Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

  Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/LbrAqKFbud8   A huge Harvard study definitively associates symptoms of gastrointestinal reflux disease with the ingestion of caffeinated beverages and soda.  Participating were more than 48,000 women in the Nurses’ Health Study who had no diagnosed gastrointestinal reflux disease.   Analyzing data from nearly 263,000 person-years of follow up, regular coffee drinkers were 34% more likely to experience reflux symptoms, regular tea drinkers 26% more likely, and regular soda drinkers 29% more likely.  Milk, water, and juice produced no such discomfort.   This is the first study to categorically prove an association between some of our favorite drinks and heartburn.  If you do develop reflux symptoms, don’t ignore them as chronic irritation of the esophagus breeds cancer.     Mehta, Raaj S. et al.  Association Between Beverage Intake and Incidence of Gastroesophageal Reflux Symptoms.  Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology: http://bit.ly/2Pt5Bie   #Gerd #reflux #coffee #tea #soda