The Influence of Concomitant Irritable Bowel Syndrome on Gastro-Oesophageal Reflux Disease Symptoms and Severity.

This research aims to investigate whether there is a link between irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and acid reflux, particularly whether there is a difference in acid reflux symptoms between people with and without IBS. IBS is a functional gastrointestinal disorder, which has the same root cause as other functional gastrointestinal disorders that produce symptoms similar to acid reflux. Acid reflux symptoms may be typical (heartburn, regurgitation) or atypical (cough, sore throat, chest pain). All participants are given two questionnaires: one to categorise them as either IBS or non-IBS, and one to understand their acid reflux symptoms. From this, the project will investigate whether there is a difference in the type (typical/atypical) and severity of acid reflux symptoms between people with and without IBS that attend for diagnostic acid reflux testing at Leeds Teaching Hospitals. Two factors determine how much acid reflux someone has: the ability of the oesophagus (food- pipe) to move food from the throat to the stomach, and how well the muscle between the oesophagus and stomach works to keep acidic contents from moving back up. All participants will have a test to see how well the muscles in their oesophagus are working. As there may be a link between IBS and oesophageal function, this project will investigate whether any patterns of abnormal oesophageal function can be identified in IBS patients that might explain their acid reflux symptoms. Participants will then have a test that measures acid reflux over 24 hours, including the amount of acid and non-acid coming up, how high this reaches in the oesophagus, and whether symptoms are linked to these events. Analysing these test results against questionnaire answers might help to understand the link between IBS and acid reflux to improve future diagnosis and treatment for the many people that have these conditions.