The link between gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and obesity has long been established. What hadn't been established was whether obese patients with GERD should be treated differently than normal-weight patients with GERD.

Two studies about obesity and its relationship to GERD were presented at the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) Annual Scientific Meeting recently. The results of both studies showed it didn't matter whether a patient with GERD was considered obese or not, treatment should remain the same.

"With obesity on the rise and more patients at risk for GERD than ever before, it's especially important that we understand how to treat overweight patients with GERD," said Prateek Sharma, MD, FACG, University of Kansas School of Medicine, an author for both analyses. "These analyses show that obese patients with GERD can probably follow the same treatment protocol as patients with GERD who are not overweight, with the same anticipated outcomes."

In the first study, data from two randomized, double-blind trials comparing the taking of a PPI, Nexium, at a dosage of 20 mg or 40 mg once daily with placebo were pooled and analyzed. A total of 704 patients with non-erosive reflux disease (they experienced frequent heartburn but had no evidence of erosion in the esophagus) were included. The analysis showed that the patient's weight had no significant effect on resolution of heartburn.

The second study looked at a total of 11,027 GERD patients with erosive esophagitis. About one in three people with frequent, persistent heartburn also have erosive esophagitis. Researchers analyzed five randomized, double-blind multi-center clinical studies that compared the use of Nexium at 40 mg once daily with Prilosec at 20 mg once daily or Prevacid at 30 mg once daily. The analysis found a patient's weight had no significant effect on healing of erosions than normal-weight patients, if both groups were using PPIs.