Chronic Heartburn

In last Tuesday's Daily Mail under the heading:  “Good Health”, Lucy Elkins writes about Chronic Heartburn and that this should never be dismissed.

A few weeks before Christmas, a colleague and I were selling Christmas Cards for Charity and following my enquiry about her husband, she said he had not been well but was going to have tests soon as he had had heartburn a lot recently.

I heard nothing more from her as I was away from home for two months,  until at the end of January, I received an email.  It was a very sad email in which she explained that her husband had been diagnosed with inoperable cancer of the Oesophagus. 

My heart went out to Tom who is such a great man and we had worked together many times at the Charity Fundraising Events.  He was always so helpful and hardworking.   The couple have been married over fifty years.   A course of Radiotherapy had left him very weak and tired and last week on a flying visit home, I rang to ask how Tom was but his daughter was on the phone and did not want to elaborate.  I imagined that he was nearby as she said her mother would ring me back.  Yesterday I had an email from my colleague to say that Tom was getting very weak and eating very little now.  I am so sad.

Back to the article, Chronic Heartburn should not be ignored precisely because there could be underlying problems.   The problem is that the symptoms are not picked up until it is often too late.  Two tell-tale signs are:  food sticking in your throat and persistent heartburn and these are often the cause of oesophageal cancer. 

 

To explain, heartburn occurs when the acidic contents of the stomach are splashed up the oesophagus which can be a result of being overweight as this encourages the pressure on the stomach.   Over the years, the splashed acid can cause changes to the type of cells lining the oesophagus and they become pre-cancerous, known as Barrett’s Oesophagus.

This cancer is linked to a poor diet and smoking and drinking but can also be hereditary.

Many cancers have been cured or prevented by early detection and attention to the symptoms so if you or someone you know has these symptoms, please urge them to seek medical advice.  Very often doctors tend to send patients away with Gaviscon or such remedies but it is best to insist on a thorough investigation to be sure and never to ignore the symptoms, thinking they will go away.

Source:  The Daily Mail, Tuesday 10^th March 2015 , by Lucy Elkins

For further information go to:  nhs.uk/ogcancer