No More Heartburn [antikvár]

Introduction Why do we need a book on banishing heartburn? We already know how to spell relief: R-O-L-A-I-D-S—or Maalox, Mylanta, or Di-Gel. If those fail, there are the great acid inhibitors that went from prescription to over-the-counter status all too quickly like Pepcid, Zantac, Tagamet, and Axid. And if those fail to give relief, there is a whole new generation of proton-pump inhibitors emerging, like Prilosec and Prevacid, as well as other potent prescription medications that squelch possible symptoms. As a recent New England Journal of Medicine article (Lagergren) by specialists at the prestigious Karolinska Institute in Stockholm have reported, heartburn is anything but harmless. In fact, it carries a high risk of evolving into cancer of the esophagus, for which there is still no cure. And this heightened risk for esophageal cancer is not double or triple, but forty-three times that of those who do not suffer from heartburn or indigestion! Esophageal cancer is so vicious that fewer than twelve people out of one hundred live to five years after diagnosis. In just the last two decades, the number of esophageal cancer victims each year has increased eightfold, making it the fastest growing cancer nationwide. Add to this an even more important fact that has emerged from the research: getting medical treatment for heartburn increases, not lessens, your chances of getting cancer. Be that as it may, gastroenterologists at noted medical schools still recommend that patients take their medications "continuously and indefinitely" (Cohen). Why? Because drugs are the major tools of modem medicine. For exam- h' I', ^ i ¦ ¦