Gastroesophageal reflux disease ( GERD, or heartburn ) is a common condition that's been associated with cancer (of the esophagus, and possibly the larynx), asthma, recurrent aspiration leading to pneumonia, and pulmonary fibrosis. With these serious complications one might think that GERD sufferers would have a shortened lifespan. But this is not the case, according to a report in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

"Drawing on over 50,000 person-years of data, the study provides reassuring evidence that people with acid reflux symptoms do not have an increased risk of death, finding no difference in survival rates between sufferers and non-sufferers.

In fact, the study finds that people with infrequent acid reflux may actually have better survival rates than those with either daily symptoms, or none at all. It may be that occasional reflux symptoms are a reflection of potential protective behaviors that are associated with reflux, such as regular exercise or modest amounts of alcohol ingestion, suggest Nicholas J. Talley and G. Richard Locke, III , co-authors of the study."