THE ESSENTIAL
- In one study, 60,253 people in the group with gastroesophageal reflux disease and 11,367 in the group without this digestive disorder were diagnosed with tinnitus.
- The incidence rate was 14.91 versus 1.74 cases per 1,000 person-years.
- No significant decrease was observed in the occurrence of tinnitus in association with the use of proton pump inhibitor drugs in patients with GERD.
Linked to a failure of the muscle closing this part of the digestive tract, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is characterized by the rise of part of the contents of the stomach into the esophagus. According to Health Insurance, this digestive disorder can be caused by a hiatal hernia, certain medications, pregnancy, excessive pressure on the abdomen linked to overweight or obesity, tobacco and alcohol consumption. or even hearty meals. “Recent research indicates that this regurgitation can disrupt the homeostasis of the middle and inner ear via the Eustachian tube,” said researchers from Kyung Hee University College of Korean Medicine (South Korea).
A potential middle and inner ear imbalance caused by gastroesophageal reflux
In this context, they then hypothesized that an association between GERD and tinnitus might exist due to the imbalance of the middle and inner ear caused by acid reflux. As a reminder, tinnitus is sounds or auditory sensations (squeaking, chirping, crackling, hissing, etc.) that you hear in one ear (or both) or in your head without them having been emitted by a source from the outside world. They can occur after repeated acoustic trauma (for example: listening to music at very high volume, occupation exposed to noise, etc.), due to a normal decline in hearing linked to the aging of the ear, an earwax blockage, an ear infection, otosclerosis or Ménière’s disease.
GERD and tinnitus are strongly associated
To explore the potential link, the team conducted a study during which 669,159 patients, enrolled in a national cohort conducted from 2012 to 2019, were recruited. The results, published in the journal Scientific Reports, revealed that 60,253 people in the GERD group and 11,367 in the group without this digestive disorder had been diagnosed with tinnitus (with an incidence rate of 14.91 compared to 1.74 cases for 1,000 person-years). After controlling for age, sex, income, number of endoscopies and medical visits, and comorbidities, the adjusted hazard ratio was 7.15 and remained significant at 6.65 after further adjustment. for medicines. “The use of proton pump inhibitor drugs in patients with GERD did not show a significant decrease in the occurrence of tinnitus,” reported the authors.
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