La enfermedad por reflujo gastroesofágico: la dicotomía del ensayo clínico y la práctica clínica

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a chronic illness that is estimated to affect around 20% of the population of the western countries, and in turn, represents approximately 5% of the workload of primary care physicians. It is a condition that alters numerous physical and psychosocial aspects of its sufferers. Even though the appearance of proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) transformed the paradigm employed in GERD, many unanswered questions still abound in daily practice. In the current issue of the Revista Mexicana de Gastroenterología, López-Colombo et al. reported the results of their study on patients under 50 years of age that were seen at a primary care unit for presenting with symptoms suggestive of GERD (defined by symptoms consistent with the condition and a Carlsson-Dent questionnaire score ≥ 4), in the absence of clinical alarm symptoms or previous PPI, prokinetic, or antacid use. The patients that met the inclusion criteria and agreed to participate in the study were then intentionally interviewed through a questionnaire that examined their lifestyle (created by the authors based on