For women, weight gain spells heartburn
By Eric Jaffe
A study of more than 10,000 women suggests that weight gain is associated with heartburn.
Furthermore, while previous research had linked obesity with heartburn, a report in the June 1 New England Journal of Medicine indicates that any woman above her ideal body weight has an increased risk of such symptoms.
Heartburn and acid regurgitation are the two main symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which affects one in five people in the United States weekly and costs the health care industry $10 billion a year.