READER’S DIGEST
June• 2019 | 49may cause Barrett’s oesophagus, a
condition that sometimes precedes
oesophageal cancer.
“In one in ten people with chronic
acid reflux, the lining of the oesoph-
agus changes from being normal to
being that of Barrett’s oesophagus,”
says Professor Lovat. “Barrett’s oe-
sophagus itself has a one in ten or less
chance of becoming cancerous. If
you don’t have Barrett’s oesophagus,
the likelihood of getting oesophageal
cancer is almost zero.”
To minimise the effects of chronic
acid reflux or avoid it in the first place,
these steps may help.
Visit your doctorGORD can be treated, which may stop
your condition from progressing, so
it’s wise to see your doctor if you have
chronic reflux, your symptoms are in-
terfering with daily life, your sleep is
affected or you are having to take over
the counter remedies very frequently.
Your doctor may perform an
endoscopy – a procedure that re-
veals the interior of your oesophagus
with the help of a camera attached to
a long tube – to see if your oesopha-
gus is inflamed or damaged. If it is,
your doctor can prescribe medica-
tion and offer lifestyle changes that
may reduce your symptoms. “If you
are bad enough to come to the doctor
in the first place, take the medicine
the doctor prescribes and heal it all
up,” says Professor Lovat. “Then use
that opportunity to improve your
lifestyle. The top of my list would be:
do not eat or drink for a minimum
of two to three hours before going to
bed. Do not eat large amounts at any
one time. And do not eat fatty foods.”Manage your weight
Your weight can inf luence whether
or not you experience chronic reflux.
Being overweight or obese makes it
harder for the muscle that separates
your stomach and oesophagus to
maintain a tight seal, which allows
acid to leak into the oesophagus.
“The muscle may be weaker or
the patient may have a hiatus hernia
which reduces the mechanical factors
preventing reflux,” says Professor Geoff
Hebbard, director of gastroenterolo-
gy and hepatology at the Royal Mel-
bourne Hospital. “With increased in-
tra-abdominal pressure due to obesity,
the pressure driving fluid back into
the oesophagus is greater, so it is like-
ly that more will reflux back when the
strength of the muscle is overcome.”
Another likely major contributor
in the increased prevalence of GORD
in recent years is the increasing BMI
(body mass index) in our population.
In some, small weight changes is asso-
ciated with a reduction in reflux.
Barbara Sheffield, 54, an airline
employee, gets heartburn when she
gains weight, but it disappears when
she slims down. “When I get to 70
kilos, I notice it returns,” says Shef-
field. “It forces me to get my weight
back down, ideally to 66 kilograms.”