Taipei City Government

“Doctor, I feel heartburn and chest discomfort during the night when I sleep. What is wrong with me?”
Mr. Liao, 42 years old, is a company manager who eats out all the time, and irregularly. He needs coffee to revive himself every day owing to the great working pressure and insufficient sleep. He has been suffering from hiccups and abdominal distension since several months ago. One night he felt heartburn accompanied with a little chest distress and vomited acid saliva repeatedly, so he went to the cardiology outpatient department and was finally transferred to the gastroenterology outpatient department after the physical examination suggested there was no heart disease.
Xie Jia-feng, attending doctor of the Gastroenterology Department in Renai Branch of Taipei City Hospital, says that gastroesophageal reflux chiefly occurs at the junction between the esophagus and stomach, with the gastric acid or gastric content refluxing from the stomach to the esophagus. The gastric acid is just like hydrochloric acid, which will reflux easily to the esophagus once the gastroesophageal sphincter is much looser or there is much greater gastric pressure; it will cause discomfort and other symptoms, such as heartburn, acid vomiting, bitter or sour taste, foreign body sensation of the throat, and so on.
The treatment for gastroesophageal reflux usually comprises lifestyle modification, drug therapy and surgical therapy. The lifestyle modification is quite important for gastroesophageal reflux, which includes quitting smoking, avoiding excessive drinking, reducing the intake of food rich in fat, getting into the habit of eating more frequent, smaller meals, not eating snacks 2-4 hours before sleep, eating less chocolate confections, mints, coffee, strong tea, spicy food, cola, and so on, losing weight for overweight people and elevating the head of the bed by 15-20cm during sleep.
Dr. Xie emphasizes that only the modification of lifestyle together with drug therapy can keep us free from gastroesophageal reflux.