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From: Webmaster
Date: 10/02/00
Time: 00:11:43
The two comments made by Dr. Wilcox are as follows:
"Some patients are found to have Barrett's even when they have no symptoms of reflux so finding it after only a short period of symptoms is not uncommon. The risk of developing cancer from Barrett's is about the same as getting lung cancer if you have smoked a pack a day for 20 years. If you are a white male you are in the highest risk category. Some folks when diagnosed with Barrett's already have microscopic evidence of cancer in their esophagus and are misdiagnosed on the basis of sampling error. The longer you stay of PPIs the more likely you are to develop cancer...according to the New England Journal of Medicine in an article published last year from scientists in Scandinavia. On the other hand the surgical cure for reflux can reduce your chances of getting cancer. Consult an expert antireflux surgeon."
"Yes many experts believe that one of the reasons God put acid in our stomachs was to neutralize the bile that refluxes into the stomach from the duodenum. If you remove acid from the stomach and allow bile to reflux into the esophagus cancer is produced in laboratory animals. We know that people who have Barrett's have a very likely problem with both acid and bile reflux. So with just a little bit of acid and a lot of bile mutagenic changes are likely to occur in people who have a genetic predisposition to have this happen, even when symptoms are suppressed with PPIs which reduce but do not eliminate acid in the stomach."
This is based on one study. I would highly suggest consulting with your doctor or get a second opinion before any changes are made in the medication you are taking.