MedWire News: Eosinophilic oesophagitis is a disease that can affect any age group, but men are more likely to suffer from the condition than women, researchers have found.

Eosinophilic oesophagitis is a recently identified allergic inflammatory condition of the foodpipe that causes symptoms such as heartburn and swallowing difficulties. It is thought that certain foods may play a role in the development of the condition.

Dr David Katzka, from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, USA, and team explain that, due to its relatively recent identification, little is known about eosinophilic oesophagitis, including whether or not certain groups of people are more at risk of the condition than others.

To investigate, the researchers assessed data from a study of more than 74,000 patients from 26 US states. Results of oesophageal tests revealed that 363 of these patients had eosinophilic oesophagitis.

Analysis showed that patients with the foodpipe disorder ranged in age from 1 to 98 years, including 42 children and 321 adults.

The most common symptoms among patients with eosinophilic oesophagitis were swallowing difficulties (70%) and acid reflux (27%).

The team also found that men were around three times more likely than women to develop eosinophilic oesophagitis.

"Many physicians often think of eosinophilic oesophagitis as a disease diagnosed in children and young adults. Our series shows that eosinophilic oesophagitis is a disease that spares no age group in that a large proportion of patients were older than age 40 and multiple cases were identified in patients older than age 80," Dr Katzka and team write in the journal Gastroenterology.

They add: "We are a step closer to fully understanding eosinophilic oesophagitis and to increasing awareness in physicians who could identify and thereby treat patients with this condition."