The Role Of Diet And Lifestyle In Managing Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (Gerd): A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: The chronic medical condition gastro esophageal reflux disease generates heartburn symptoms and stomach acid reflux which degrades patient quality of life and heightens healthcare risks. Food selection together with life habits strongly affect how symptoms evolve. Differentiating what causes food reactions and behavioral impulsive assists in reaching better treatment goals and minimizes pharmaceutical usage for condition management.

Objectives: to measure how dietary modifications along with life-style changes affect the symptoms. The evaluation includes dietary elements that trigger symptoms and physical activity patterns and smoking habits while considering obesity as a symptom factor.

Study Design:  A cross-sectional study.

Place And Duration Of Study. Department of  Gastroenterologist. Fauji foundation hospital, Peshawar.from June 2022 to june 2023

Methods: 150 patients suffering from gerd through a cross-sectional study. The questionnaire structure included sections about dietary habits, lifestyle factors together with symptom severity assessments. We used statistical analysis to determine associations through standard deviation, mean calculations and p-value evaluation. A statistical analysis of the data occurred on spss software where p < 0.05 designated the significance threshold.

Results: 150 patients whose mean age stood at 45.3 ± 12.6 years. A high-fat diet combined with excessive caffeine consumption with smoking habits increased gerd symptoms based on statistical analysis (p = 0.002, p = 0.01, and p = 0.005). The study results revealed a direct link between sedentary lifestyle and obesity with symptom severity levels (p = 0.008 and p = 0.003). People who ate less fat while exercising often achieved relief from their symptoms (p = 0.001). The combination of alcohol use with eating dinner past midnight caused significant worsening of GERD symptoms (p = 0.004).

Conclusion: Diet and lifestyle changes have strong effects on minimizing symptoms of gerd. Feeding your body less fat along with decreasing your consumption of caffeine alcohol and late dinner intake combined with more exercise will assist in symptom relief. Patients benefit most from medical treatment combined with lifestyle counseling which physicians need to provide in order to achieve better outcomes. Additions to research studies should explore the extended effects of these therapeutic measures