摘要
ESPITE the strong association between gastroesophageal reflux disease （GERD） and asthma has been undisputedly established and widely recognized by experts in advanced countries. Yet few topics in medicine are as controversial as the causal relationship between GERD and asthma： some argue that GERD causes asthma, while others think the other way around is true, still quite a few believe that bronchodilator medications are to blame. This controversy continues to be a conundrum or more piece of the puzzle.1 We would like to share two thoughts which might be a belated revelation with scholars and experts and invite them for further cooperative studies： the GERD-derived respiratory distress is not asthma, but GERD pure and simple; and the pathogenesis of respiratory distress is not asthma, but laryngotracheal irritation/spasm/suffocation.
