[Epidemiology and clinical characteristics of GERD in the Japanese adults].

Prevalence of GERD has been increasing since the end of the 1990s, possibly due to increases in gastric acid secretion, a decrease in H. pylori infection, and advances in the concept of GERD. More than half of GERD patients had non-erosive GERD, and majority (87 %) of erosive GERD was mild esophagitis such as Los Angeles grade A and grade B. There were several identified risk factors for GERD, such as older age, obesity, hiatal hernia, mild gastric atrophy, and absence of H. pylori infection. Here, we reviewed epidemiology and clinical characteristics of GERD in the Japanese adults.