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Reflux screening unnecessary, say researchers

Best practice dictates that a patient aged over 50 with long-standing problems of gastric reflux should have an endoscopy - but a recent study has concluded that it’s yet another routine screening programme that has no benefit to the patient.

Frequent and severe reflux - where stomach contents back up into the oesophagus - could be an early sign of cancer of the oesophagus. Patients are therefore screened just in case.

But GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) is one of the most common problems seen by doctors. It’s been estimated that half of all Americans suffer reflux once a month, while 20 per cent suffer it once a week, which translates into a vast screening initiative.

Even if the resources were in place to cope, endoscopic screening can produce unreliable findings while putting even more stress on an already overstretched health system. Perhaps the best argument against routine screening is the simple fact that the link between reflux and cancer is very slight, say researchers from the University of North Carolina (JAMA, 2002; 287: 1972-81).

Endoscopy - Dangers of the optic ‘scope’ - Endoscopy is the direct visualisation of the digestive tract using an endoscope, a flexible tube with a camera mounted on it that is small enough to p...

Gastric patients do worse with surgery - Doctors who advise patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) to undergo surgery may be misleading them to think that it may reduce subseque...

GERD: You don’t have it because it doesn’t exist - If your doctor tells you that you suffer from GERD (gastro-esophageal reflux disease), he’s lying – because the condition doesn’t exist, and was inven...

Endoscopy is killing patients - Endoscopy, the diagnostic test, is killing one in 2,000 patients. This alarming situation has come to light only because a special audit has been carr...

News - * Glue ear (otitis media with effusion), a common cause of deafness in children, may be due to gastric reflux (when gastric juices in the stomach flow...

Endoscopes infected - Several recent outbreaks of infection occurring in American hospitals have been caused by inadequately sterilized flexible fiber optic endoscopes an...

Breast screening: no benefit - While doctors consider stepping up breast cancer screening, new data has revealed a regularly screened woman who develops cancer is no better off than...

Mammograms can benefit the over-60s, not the under-50s - Do women under the age of 50 benefit from mammogram screening? Latest findings from the Swedish study - involving nearly 250,000 women - suggests not,

The British Institute for the Identification & Treatment of Allergic Disorders

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