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)
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