President Barack Obama was diagnosed with acid reflux following tests at a Washington-area military hospital in response to complaints of a sore throat.

Ronny L. Jackson, the president’s physician, said an examination this morning at the White House found swelling in the back of Obama’s throat. A subsequent CT scan later today at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, indicated the cause was acid reflux.

“The president’s symptoms are consistent with soft tissue inflammation related to acid reflux and will be treated accordingly,” Jackson said in an e-mailed statement.

Reflux is a condition in which acidic stomach fluid is regurgitated and generates “heartburn” by irritating the esophagus and sometimes the back of the throat.

Acid reflux disease affects about 20 percent of the U.S. population, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Nexium, the top acid-reflux medicine made by AstraZeneca Plc, had $3.9 billion in sales last year.

“The president has been complaining of a sore throat,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in an e-mailed statement. “In light of that and given that the president has free time in his schedule this afternoon, Dr. Jackson, the president’s physician, recommended he go to Walter Reed for some diagnostic tests.”

Earnest described the quickly scheduled test as “a matter of convenience for the president, not a matter of urgency.”

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