Tag Archives: Gastro-oesophageal reflux

Protein pump inhibitors cause coeliac disease and asthma, and they are unnecessary.

OK, that title is perhaps slightly too definite, the publications that I wanted to discuss are observational studies, which can only prove associations, but it would be hard to perform the prospective controlled trials that would be necessary to prove … Continue reading

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Does Gastro-Oesophageal Reflux matter in BronchoPulmonary Dysplasia?

The title is deliberately a bit vague as I wanted to discuss whether GOR contributes to the pathogenesis of BPD, and also whether it is important in infants with established BPD. Does GOR contribute to the development of BPD? There … Continue reading

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What is Gastro-Oesophageal Reflux Disease (GORD, or GERD if you prefer) in the neonate?

All babies have reflux, repeated transient lower oesophageal sphincter relaxations are universal. Almost all babies have overt regurgitation, I often say that if a baby never regurgitates it may be a sign that they aren’t getting enough milk! So when … Continue reading

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Gastric acid is good for your bones.

We’ve known for a while now that suppressing gastric acid production in preterm infants increases Necrotising Enterocolitis and also systemic sepsis. Presumably this is because the intestinal microbiome is deranged by allowing the survival of pathogens as they pass through … Continue reading

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You can’t diagnose reflux with a laryngoscope!

I have seen in several places, and heard other neonatologists from elsewhere make comments about, a very high frequency of the diagnosis of serious reflux by ENT surgeons. Almost every time a consultation is requested, for almost any indication, the … Continue reading

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Toxicity of reflux medications in infancy

Before I leave the topic for at least a few days, I thought I would discuss data about the toxicity of reflux medications in older children. Most of my ‘toxic placebo’ comments have been about studies in preterm infants, and … Continue reading

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Anti-reflux medications in preterm infants; a whole cornucopia of toxic placebos.

I have written frequently about this on my blog in the past, and even written a book chapter about the subject (in the book titled “Nutrition for the Preterm Neonate” edited by Sanjay Patole). I recently mentioned the subject in my … Continue reading

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It doesn’t make much difference how often we feed babies

Over the years there have a number of studies comparing two different feeding regimes. Most recently there has been a comparison of 2 hourly vs 3 hourly feeds and a comparison of feeds every 3 hours compared to 4 feeds … Continue reading

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Outcomes of babies with surgical anomalies

Neonatologists basically invented the field of outcomes research; many of my colleagues from around the world have closely examined the outcomes of very premature and extremely premature infants for many years: well before people in other fields were doing so. Outcome … Continue reading

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PPIs are toxic

PPIs could mean “public-private initiatives” which are highly toxic, as recent experience in the UK and in Quebec has shown, but in this case I mean proton pump inhibitors. Stark CM, Nylund CM. Side Effects and Complications of Proton Pump … Continue reading

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