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) Northeast Ohio Health and Medical Consumer News
But about 10 percent of those who suffer from acid reflux will develop a precancerous condition known as Barrett's esophagus. In turn, about one in 200 of those cases will develop into a type of esophageal cancer that's one of the deadliest cancers to treat. And while those numbers may seem low, the rate of adenocarcinoma esophageal cancer is climbing at such a high rate that new attention is being paid to the cause and treatments for Barrett's and esophageal cancer.The esophagus is a long tube from the pharynx that contracts to help move food into the stomach. People with Barrett's have a damaged esophagus lining and a loosening of the esophageal sphincter, which helps keep food down.
White men over 50, with a history of chronic heartburn, have the highest risk for Barrett's. More>>
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) Feeling the burn
Indeed, the uptick of diagnoses in kids and babies is “really scary," says Seattle physician Tom Vaughan, an expert on acid reflux and professor at the University of Washington. Two decades ago, it was almost unheard of. Now the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), the strongest acid-blocking drugs, for infants like Cooper—who might once have been dismissed as “colicky"—has soared by 750 per cent in the U.S. in the past decade; a range of reflux drugs have been approved for use in kids under age 11. This year, a lime-flavoured, “kid's-strength" version of the GERD prescription drug Nexium will hit the market. “More and more kids are being treated with PPIs and getting anti-reflux surgery," says Dr. Douglas Corley of Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Oakland, Calif. “And no one has any idea what the long-term effects are."Unfortunately, ignoring the symptoms—which for kids can include coughing and tummy aches—has its perils too, notes Gail Attara, executive director of the Canadian Society of Intestinal Research. More>>
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) New Test for Chronic Cough
Pulmonologists like Dr. Hahn say the four main causes of chronic cough are post-nasal drip, acid reflux, asthma and a type of non-asthmatic bronchitis. With just a few breaths, the new test allows doctors to find out which patients suffer from two treatable conditions, asthma and bronchitis. "[By doing] this very simple, non-invasive test up front, we were able to find patients who were responsive to inhaled corticosteroids as a treatment for their cough," Dr. Hahn said. Rueggs sees firsthand how this test helps her patients. "They think it's wonderful there's another test that can really zero in on their diagnosis," Rueggs said.Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:
Lisa Lucier Public Affairs Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN (507) 284-5005 newsbureau@mayo.edu . More>> - (
) Santarus, Inc. (F3Q08) Earnings Call Transcript
The study evaluated the effective chronic morning PPI dosing on 24-hour gastric acid control in patients with symptoms of GERD. The result showed that the control of gastric acid is measured as the time gastric ph was greater than 4 was 14.3 hours for patients taking ZEGERID compared with 11.7 hours for patients treated with Prevacid. A significant difference with a Ph-value of 0.005 and 10 hours for patients treated with Protonix, again, a significant difference with a Ph-value of less than 0.001.In addition to our longer duration of acid control ZEGERID also reach the ph greater than 4 in 20 minutes, which was significantly faster than Prevacid and Protonix. This data showing ZEGERIDs acid control in the daytime adds to our previous two clinical studies that demonstrated ZEGERID's ability control acid when taken at night on an empty stomach. More>>