Uncontrollable Asthma? It Might Be Something Else

by Lynne Adkins

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- If someone in your family has asthma that you just can't control, there could be another issue to blame.

If you have asthma, chances are quite good you also have GERD: Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease. Dr. Mark Posner, an allergist at Abington Jefferson Health, says the two don't go together well.

"Stomach acids are coming up into the esophagus and that is interacting with nerve endings and different neural pathways. It's causing the airways to constrict and it's causing coughing and chest symptoms," he said.

Often the patient is given more steroids to control the asthma symptoms and he says those medications cause the reflux to get worse. He says keep the GERD under control and you should breathe easier.