Chronic Heartburn Is Often No Great Risk Of Esophageal Cancer

Chronic Heartburn Is Often No Great Risk Of Esophageal Cancer.
Contrary to public belief, acid reflux disease, better known as heartburn, is not much of a endanger agent for esophageal cancer for most people, according to new research. "It's a rare cancer," said investigate author Dr Joel H Rubenstein, an assistant professor in the University of Michigan branch of internal medicine. "About 1 in 4 people have symptoms of GERD acid reflux infection and that's a lot of people," he said. "But 25 percent of people aren't common to get this cancer. No way".

GERD is characterized by the frequent rise of stomach acid into the esophagus. Rubenstein said he was upset that as medical technology advances, enthusiasm for screening for esophageal cancer will increase, though there is no testimony that widespread screening has a benefit. About 8000 cases of esophageal cancer are diagnosed in the United States each year, he said.

The examination was published this month in the American Journal of Gastroenterology. Using computer models based on text from a national cancer registry and other published dig into about acid reflux disease, the study found only 5920 cases of esophageal cancer to each whites younger than 80 years old, with or without acid reflux disease, in the US populace in 2005.

However, white men over 60 years old with regular acid reflux symptoms accounted for 36 percent of these cases. Women accounted for only 12 percent of the cases, no matter what of epoch and whether or not they had acid reflux disease. People with no acid reflux symptoms accounted for 34 percent of the cases, the authors said. Men under 60 accounted for 33 percent of the cases.

For women, the peril for the cancer was negligible, about the same as that of men for developing soul cancer, or less than 1 percent, the researchers said. Yet the infinite majority of gastroenterologists surveyed said they would recommend screening for youthful men with acid reflux symptoms, and many would send women for the testing as well, according to enquire cited in the study.