People who take proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) like Prilosec, Prevacid, or Nexium were no more likely to die of cancer or cardiovascular, respiratory, or digestive disease over 14 years once researchers excluded those who started PPIs within 6 years of dying (since illness, not PPIs, might have raised their risk).
Most people will feel the “burn” of heartburn at some point. But if you have gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, it’s more than an occasional discomfort.
“There’s this thought that everybody with reflux needs to avoid coffee, chocolate, fatty foods, and all of the trigger foods on the lists that you find online,” says Carolyn Newberry, a gastroenterologist and assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. (Others include citrus, tomatoes, spicy foods, mint, and carbonated drinks.)
“Unfortunately, we don’t have any FDA-approved medications that work on the valve,” says Scott Gabbard, a gastroenterologist at the Cleveland Clinic.
Gabbard is referring to a valve called the lower-esophageal sphincter, or LES, which sits between the esophagus and stomach.
Most people will feel the “burn” of heartburn at some point. But if you have gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, it’s more than an occasional discomfort. Do you need to avoid coffee? Hot wings? Chocolate? Would a special pillow help? Do drugs for GERD boost the risk of Covid-19? Here’s the scoop.
