A 16-year-old from Yilan often complained of heartburn, a feeling of having a lump in the throat and general sense of being unwell, and also experienced problems sleeping and difficulty concentrating on their studies. Their parents took them to hospital, believing the cause to be heart disease, but doctors discovered that it was actually gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, and were able to prescribe medicine to treat it.
One in four people in Taiwan suffer from GERD, and clinically speaking it can occur at any age. Many people assume, incorrectly, from adverts that GERD is caused because of excessive amounts of stomach acid, and think they can control it by taking stomach medicine. In fact, over-reliance on over-the-counter medicines can lead to reoccurrence of the symptoms.
In addition to excessive stomach acid, other causes of GERD include a weak lower esophageal sphincter or diaphragm, which relax at times they are not normally supposed to, delayed emptying of the stomach — indigestion — or a sensitive esophagus. In the case of the latter, stomach acid can flow back dozens of times a day, which doesn’t pose a problem to a healthy esophagus, but with a sensitive tract the acid can damage the esophageal lining, leading to discomfort.
Photo: Chiang Chih-hsiung, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者江志雄
Typical symptoms of GERD include heartburn, a feeling of having a lump — or foreign body — in the throat, the sense of having acid in the larynx or mouth and a tight chest; atypical symptoms include chest pains, a dry cough and asthma.
If the symptoms of GERD are ignored and the esophageal mucous membrane allowed to be damaged, over time this can increase the chances of the problem developing into Barrett’s esophagus or cancer of the esophagus. By treating it with GERD medication and changing one’s lifestyle, it is possible to keep GERD under control. This means reducing sources of stress and avoiding eating or drinking to excess or having meals at irregular times, and also controlling your intake of coffee, sugary and fried foods and foods with too much butter. At the same time, you should watch your weight and avoid eating late in the evening and, if any of the symptoms of GERD present, get them checked out by a doctor as soon as possible, so that the problem can be treated in time.
(Translated by Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)
宜蘭一名十六歲少年經常「火燒心」(胸口灼熱)、喉頭異物感,常感到身體不適,無法好好睡覺,難以專心準備學業,家長誤以為是心臟疾病,帶往醫院求診,才發現胃食道逆流所致,順利找出病因對症下藥。
台灣每四個人就有一名胃食道逆流患者,臨床上幾乎全年齡都有發病案例。許多人被廣告誤導,以為胃食道逆流肇因於胃酸過多,吞顆胃藥抑制就好,其實並非如此,太過依賴成藥更容易讓症狀反覆出現。
胃食道逆流的成因,除了胃酸過多,另有食道括約肌或橫膈肌太鬆、胃排空能力不佳(消化不良)、神經敏感等因子,以神經敏感為例,胃酸在胃中一天濺起、逆流數十次,健康食道不會受傷害,要是敏感性食道,食道黏膜會因此被破壞,造成不適感。
胃食道逆流典型症狀,包含胸口灼熱、喉頭異物感、喉頭與口腔感覺酸酸的、胸悶,非典型症狀有胸痛、乾咳、氣喘。
忽視胃食道逆流,任由食道黏膜反覆破壞,時間一久會增加罹患巴瑞氏特食道癌機率。胃食道逆流應透藥物治療、改善生活習慣雙管齊下,像是緩解生活壓力源、避免暴飲暴食和三餐不正常,咖啡、甜食、油炸、奶油食品不能過量,同時控制體重、避免消夜,如果發現胃食道逆流症狀,要儘速就醫了解病因,避免錯失黃金治療期。
(自由時報)
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
It’s no secret that Japanese people have a deep affection for noodles. Like in the rest of East Asia, noodles are an important staple food, second only to rice. Japanese people have enjoyed noodles for over 1,000 years. The first noodles came from China and were introduced around 800 CE. As time passed, noodles in Japan not only became widespread but also developed some unique Japanese characteristics. The three most popular types of noodles in Japan are ramen, soba, and udon. Ramen, typically made from wheat flour, is usually thin and firm. The dough is kneaded and left to
Rice is an essential ingredient in Taiwanese cuisine. Many foods are made of rice, adding more variety to our cooking, such as rice cake, or “gui.” Wagui is made by steaming rice flour batter in a bowl. The term “gui” refers to a type of food made from rice, while “wa” refers to a bowl. The pronunciation of “gui” in Taiwanese Hokkien is similar to the word for “nobility” in Chinese, so it is common for people to prepare various types of gui, including wagui, as offerings to the gods or ancestors,. 米是台灣重要的主食,用米製成的食品十分多元,豐富我們的飲食,如米做成的「粿」。粿的意思是米做成的糕點,碗粿是將在來米漿倒入碗中蒸熟,因而得名。粿因為音同「貴」,因此碗粿等粿食常用作供品祭拜神明和祖先。 nobility (n.) 高貴,高尚;貴族 offering (n.) 供品 While Taiwan may not be
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