Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common esophageal disorder with 40% of the US adult population experiencing symptoms monthly. Pulmonary diseases associated with GERD may include pneumonia, pulmonary fibrosis, asthma, or chronic bronchitis. The latter may be a manifestation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), suggesting GERD as a risk factor for acute exacerbation of COPD. Acute exacerbations of COPD are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with the disease. Recent work suggests that COPD patients with a minimum of weekly reflux symptoms have an increased number of COPD exacerbations that those who are either asymptomatic or have GERD symptoms less than once a week. On this basis, we theorized that in patients with COPD, who also have gastro esophageal reflux disease are at increase risk for acute exacerbations of COPD. To test this question, we will determine which COPD patients have GERD by 24 hour pH testing, treat their GERD with esomeprazole or lansoprazole for 1 year, and compare the number of COPD exacerbations during the treatment period to the previous year.
