Traditional PPI treatment approach appears no better than plant-based diet and alkaline water
FRIDAY, Sept. 8, 2017 (HealthDay News) — A dietary approach and a traditional treatment approach of proton pump inhibition (PPI) and standard reflux precautions are similarly effective for patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), according to a study published online Sept. 7 in JAMA Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery.
Craig H. Zalvan, M.D., from New York Medical College in Valhalla, and colleagues conducted a retrospective medical chart review of two treatment cohorts of patients with LPR. Eighty-five patients with LPR who were treated with PPI and standard reflux precautions (PS) were identified from 2010 to 2012. Ninety-nine patients treated with alkaline water; a 90 percent plant-based, Mediterranean-style diet; and standard reflux precautions (AMS) were identified from 2013 to 2015.
The researchers found that 54.1 and 62.6 percent of PS- and AMS-treated patients achieved a clinically meaningful reduction in the Reflux Symptom Index (RSI) (difference between the groups, 8.05; 95 percent confidence interval, −5.74 to 22.76). The mean reduction in RSI was 27.2 and 39.8 percent in the PS and AMS groups, respectively (difference, 12.1; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.53 to 22.68).
“This study suggests that a plant-based diet and alkaline water should be considered in the treatment of LPR,” the authors write. “This approach may effectively improve symptoms and could avoid the costs and side effects of pharmacological intervention as well as afford the additional health benefits associated with a healthy, plant-based diet.”
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