Some coughing and wheezing experienced by asthma patients could be caused not by asthma, but heartburn, researchers say.

Researchers at The Ohio State University Medical Center are trying to determine if treating acid reflux can help control asthma symptoms.

Experts believe nearly half of people with asthma also have acid reflux. Some of the people who have both don't know they have acid reflux, experts say.

"Those are people that we are particularly concerned about because they may have a problem and not know it, and if that problem is making their asthma worse, then they're not really getting specific treatment for that problem," said Dr. John Mastronarde, of the OSU Medical Center.

In a study, OSU researchers will measure the amount of acid in the esophagus of asthma patients and then treat some patients with heartburn medicine.

"It will answer the question of who you should treat, if it works, and almost equally important, who you shouldn't treat or who you shouldn't falsely give this medicine to thinking it's going to affect their asthma," Mastronarde said.