ISSN:
1365-2036
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Background : We are unaware of the analyses of time series data resulting from 24 h recordings of human gastric or oesophageal pH. As a result, we have no understanding of the quantitative changes in gastric or oesophageal acidity over time, the patterns that might characterize these changes, or the physiological significance of gastro-oesophageal reflux.Aim : To examine the time series for gastric and oesophageal pH.Methods : Detrended fluctuation analysis and lag analysis were used to analyse data from 24 h recordings of oesophageal and gastric pH in five normal subjects and five subjects with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease.Results : Analyses of the patterns of gastric and oesophageal pH over time in normal subjects and subjects with gastro–oesophageal reflux disease indicate that the fluctuations in pH are self-similar across different time scales and are consistent with an underlying fractal process. Furthermore, there is a significant statistical association between sequential pH values separated by as much as 2.2 h.Conclusions : We hypothesize that the self-similar, fractal pattern encodes information about gastric acidity and that the oesophagus decodes this information and, when appropriate, may signal the stomach to reduce gastric acidity. Subjects with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease might have an impaired oesophageal–gastric feedback mechanism that results in increased gastric acid, which reflux from the stomach into the oesophagus.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2036.2005.02665.x
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