Signs That Your Heartburn Might Be Serious

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Nearly everyone has been plagued with heartburn at some point in his or her lifetime. It’s usually the result of eating a greasy bacon cheeseburger or overindulging on family taco night, but it isn’t anything to worry about. Or is it? Occasional heartburn is no cause for concern, but heartburn episodes that increase in frequency or intensity could be part of a much larger problem – gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease, often shortened to GERD, is a digestive condition that is marked by frequent heartburn. GERD is caused by a faulty lower esophageal sphincter (LES), the ring of muscle at the base of your esophagus that allows food and liquids to pass into the stomach and prevents them from escaping upward. In patients who have GERD, the LES does not close properly. This allows gastric juices and undigested food to reflux back into the esophagus and cause that painful, burning sensation known as heartburn.

An estimated 14 to 20 percent of U.S. adults are affected by GERD, and many of them rely on medications such as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) to control their symptoms. PPIs are very effective in managing GERD, but they are linked to other long-term complications. Patients who take PPIs longer than the recommended 14 day course of treatment are subject to risky side effects including bone loss, kidney failure, heart attack, dementia, and vitamin deficiencies.

While heartburn flare-ups are inconvenient and uncomfortable, gastroenterologist Michael P. Jones explains that these symptoms are an important reminder to listen to your body. “Heartburn is your friend,” he wrote in an opinion piece for the L.A. Times, “a harbinger of morbid and mortal events to come” (Source: Medical Daily).

If you currently experience heartburn symptoms more than twice per week, or if you experience other troubling symptoms such as hoarseness, dry cough and difficulty swallowing, schedule an appointment with your doctor. These symptoms could be a sign of a serious underlying condition. Your doctor may refer you for an upper endoscopy to determine the extent of your digestive issues and create a comprehensive treatment plan. With early intervention and the right treatment, you can put a stop to chronic heartburn.

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Diabetes and Glaucoma Risk

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Other diseases include diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema and cataracts. Each form of diabetic eye disease is capable of causing significant vision loss and blindness.

Why does diabetes cause eye disease?
Increased blood sugar levels cause changes in capillary walls and can cause blood vessel damage. Weak blood vessels in the eyes can leak blood and fluid and cause diabetic retinopathy. As the disease progresses, retinal blood vessels close and are replaced by abnormal blood vessels. The abnormal vessels along the eye's drainage pathway can increase the pressure inside of the eye and cause stress to the optic nerve. If this stress is not relieved, it can progress into glaucoma and cause permanent eye damage or even blindness.

Importance of eye exams
Glaucoma and other forms of diabetic eye disease can develop slowly and painlessly over the course of months or years. Staying current with comprehensive eye exams is the best way to prevent vision loss, so people with diabetic eye disease should have their eyes examined at least once per year. If you have diabetes, it is essential to control your condition with the help of your primary care physician and eye care specialist. Along with scheduling regular doctor visits, be sure to take your medication as prescribed, exercise regularly, and eat a well-balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins (Source: NEI).

Winter Sports Injuries

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A fresh blanket of snow creates the perfect landscape for a day of skiing, sledding and snowboarding. Unfortunately, it also sets the stage for injuries.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, over 246,000 people received medical treatment for winter sports injuries last year alone. This included:

  • 88,000 skiing injuries
  • 61,000 snowboarding injuries
  • 50,000 ice skating injuries
  • 47,000 sledding, tobogganing, or snow tubing injuries

No sport is without risk, but you can help protect yourself against common injuries by recognizing potential hazards and taking steps to prevent them. Here are some of the most common injuries that occur in winter sports:

  • Concussions from falling or running into rocks or trees
  • Rotator cuff injuries or shoulder dislocation from skiing accidents
  • Collision injuries during ice hockey, ice skating or skiing
  • Torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) when twisting or falling on skis
  • Sprains or pulled muscles from ice skating accidents
  • Spinal injuries from sledding, skiing or snowmobile accidents

To protect yourself from these injuries, remember to follow these safety guidelines:

  • Always have a partner. Never participate in winter sports alone.
  • Warm up for 10 to 15 minutes prior to vigorous activity.
  • Wear appropriate protective gear, including a helmet, goggles and gloves.
  • Dress in multiple layers to keep muscles warm and prevent injury.
  • Drink water before, during and after activity to stay thoroughly hydrated.
  • Take a rest when you feel tired. Fatigued muscles do not respond as quickly and may result in injury.

Winter sports can be the highlight of the season as long as they are performed safely. Take steps to ensure your outdoor activities remain injury-free and remember to discuss safety rules with your children. A little prevention could spare you a trip to the emergency room and weeks of recovery (Source: OrthoInfo).

How Does Family History Affect Colonoscopy Frequency and Cost?

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As the third-leading cause of cancer death among men and women in the United States, colon cancer is a prevalent disease that affects 1 in 20 Americans. It is estimated that about 134,490 people will be diagnosed with colon cancer or rectal cancer this year, and 49,190 people will die of the disease in 2016.

Role of family history
Family history is one of many colon cancer risk factors you cannot change. If you have a first-degree relative such as a parent, sibling or child who has colon cancer, you are at increased risk for developing the disease. Your risk is even higher if the relative was younger than 45 at diagnosis or if you have multiple relatives with colon cancer. Having a family history of colon cancer can be linked to genetics, shared environmental factors or both, but it is estimated that as many as 1 in 5 people who develop colon cancer have another family member who is affected as well.

Inherited syndromes
Between 5 and 10 percent of people who develop colon cancer have inherited gene defects that can potentially cause family cancer syndromes which lead to colon cancer. There are two common inherited syndromes:

  • Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), which is initiated by a mutation in the APC gene that a person inherits from a parent. In the most common type of FAP, hundreds of polyps develop in the colon and rectum before early adulthood. By the age of 40, almost every affected person develops colon cancer if the colon is not removed to prevent it. FAP accounts for about 1 percent of all colon cancers.
  • Lynch syndrome (hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer or HNPCC) increases the risk for polyps (although not nearly as severe as FAP) and accounts for about 2 to 4 percent of all colon cancers. Caused by an inherited abnormality in the MLH1 or MLH2 gene, Lynch syndrome increases the risk for colon cancer by as high as 80 percent. Lynch syndrome is also linked to other cancers of the stomach, small intestine, pancreas, kidney, brain, ureters (tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder), and bile duct.

The need for earlier screening
It is easy to see that colon cancers, especially those that are linked to Lynch syndrome and FAP, are time-intensive to treat. If you have a family history of polyps or colon cancer, you should be screened before the age of 50, and you need to be screened much more often than someone who is only at average risk for colon cancer. How soon should you be screened? If you have a first-degree relative (or relatives) with colon cancer, subtract 10 years from the age your relative was at diagnosis, and that is the age you should begin screening. After receiving the results of your screening, your doctor will advise you on a timeline for your next screening.

The expense of colon cancer
Colon cancer is much easier and less expensive to treat when it is in the early stages. For individuals who are at average risk for colon cancer, the disease is largely preventable by staying up-to-date with screening colonoscopies. The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force recommends that adults who are at average risk for colon cancer get a colon screening beginning at age 50 and continuing until age 75.

Having a family history of colon cancer can make surveillance more costly because you need to visit your primary care physician and gastroenterologist more often. Being at higher risk for colon cancer does not mean that you will develop colon cancer, but it does mean that you need to focus on prevention. A colonoscopy is one of the more expensive preventative services covered under the Affordable Care Act, but it is the best screening available for colon cancer.

It is understandable that you may be concerned about unexpected medical expenses, but preventative care is always less expensive than chronic disease treatment. According to Fight Colorectal Cancer, the estimated annual national expenditure for colorectal cancer treatment is $14 billion, and inpatient hospital care accounts for 80 percent of this cost. This statistic is proof that prevention is always easier on your pocketbook. Unfortunately, the fear of unexpected cost-sharing deters patients from getting screened earlier when treatment is more affordable. Staying current with visits to your primary care physician and gastroenterologist is the best way reduce medical costs and offer early detection and treatment for colon cancer.

Colonoscopy is best
Although the U.S. Preventative Task Force recommendations for colon screening include fecal occult blood testing, flexible sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy, the colonoscopy is the gold standard for colon screening because of its unique therapeutic and preventative properties. During a colonoscopy, precancerous polyps can be removed so that they will not have the opportunity to progress to cancer. This offers the best defense against colon cancer, whether or not the disease runs in your family.

If you have a family history of adenomatous polyps or colon cancer, talk with your doctor about the possible need to begin screening before age 50. It is also important to tell your close relatives so that they can pass along that information to their doctors and start screening at the right age. Finally, make sure that you have a primary care physician and GI specialist with whom you feel comfortable and schedule regular visits to ensure that you are getting the care your condition requires. Prevention is always better than treatment, so give yourself the gift of quality care and good colon health.

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Caregiving for a Parent with Glaucoma

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It is often difficult to know what type of assistance your parent needs, especially if he or she wants to remain as independent as possible.

Here are some tips to help you be an effective caregiver to a parent or loved one who has glaucoma:

  • Schedule regular eye exams. Glaucoma is nicknamed the “sneak thief of sight” because it has no warning signs in the early stages. In fact, glaucoma can cause your parent can lose up to 40 percent of their vision without even knowing it. Staying current with comprehensive eye exams will help prevent glaucoma-related vision loss and help your parent maintain a higher quality of life. Make sure that, in your caregiving, you do not neglect your own eye health. You can even schedule your comprehensive eye exam on the same day as your parent’s appointment.
  • Help create healthy meal plans. Studies suggest that a diet that is rich in antioxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin can help lower the risk of eye damage. Fruits and vegetables that have orange and yellow skins are high in lutein and zeaxanthin, including corn, carrots, squash, and citrus fruits. Leafy green vegetables like kale and collard greens are good sources as well.
  • Improve indoor lighting. Poor lighting conditions can cause temporary eye strain and lead to headaches. More importantly, low light increases the risk for falls, injury and hip fractures. You can help your parent stay safe by adding more light sources in the home and using higher wattage light bulbs.
  • Help administer eye drops and medication. Medicated eye drops are one of the most common glaucoma treatments to help lower eye pressure, but eye drops are often not administered properly. Insufficient medication can cause spikes in eye pressure that can lead to optic nerve damage and vision loss.

There is no cure for glaucoma, but you have a unique ability as a caregiver to help preserve your parent’s vision and delay vision loss. By taking some of these simple steps, you can significantly impact your parent’s eye health (Source: Liv Home).

Healthy Weight Week: How Bariatric Surgery Can Benefit You

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Do you need a little motivation to stay on track with your New Year’s weight loss goals? Healthy Weight Week is January 16-20! This nationwide public health and awareness campaign highlights the importance of healthy changes that can lead to long-term weight loss.

Diet and exercise are the two main components for weight loss, but sometimes they just aren’t enough. If you have a significant amount of weight to lose and have been unsuccessful with diet, exercise and medications, it may be time to consider bariatric surgery.

Bariatric surgery is a safe and effective weight loss procedure for those affected by severe obesity. This type of surgery promotes weight loss by making changes to the digestive system. Some types of bariatric surgery decrease the overall size of the stomach to limit caloric intake and help you feel fuller faster. Other types make changes to the small intestine where calories and nutrients are absorbed. Most weight loss surgeries are performed using minimally invasive techniques which increase safety and reduce recovery time.

Not everyone is a candidate for bariatric surgery, so it is important to talk to your doctor if you are considering this route (Source: American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery). Common criteria for weight loss surgery include:

  • A body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher or be 100 pounds overweight
  • A BMI of 35 or higher and have at least two obesity-related comorbidities such as hypertension, sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, osteoarthritis, lipid abnormalities, gastrointestinal disorders, or heart disease
  • Inability to achieve long-term weight loss with traditional methods such as lifestyle modifications and exercise

Weight loss is the most obvious benefit of bariatric surgery, but many patients experience other health benefits as well (Source: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases). After surgery, patients may see improvement in obesity-related health issues such as:

  • type 2 diabetes
  • hypertension (high blood pressure)
  • unhealthy cholesterol levels
  • sleep apnea
  • urinary incontinence
  • body aches
  • joint pain in the hips and knees

Bariatric surgery can produce amazing results, but long-term success depends largely upon your commitment to healthy lifestyle changes. Following a well-balanced diet and committing to an exercise routine is crucial to achieving optimum results. For more information on how bariatric surgery can benefit you, schedule an appointment with your doctor today!

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What Is Your Doctor’s ADR and How Do You Ask for It?

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When you’re looking for a new doctor, what criteria go into making your decision? You probably start by checking your insurance for an in-network provider. Next, you might narrow down the list by location, office hours, convenience of scheduling, and personal recommendations. All of these are great items to consider, and they should play a role in your decision. But when it comes to choosing a qualified gastroenterologist to perform your colonoscopy, there’s one item that matters most: adenoma detection rate.

Adenoma detection rate, or ADR, is a numeric value that represents the percentage of times your gastroenterologist detects a precancerous polyp during screening colonoscopies. This number is considered a benchmark of quality and care, as it indicates how thorough your doctor will be during your examination.

Although gastroenterologists undergo the most extensive training in performing colonoscopies, their rates of polyp detection can vary significantly. When interviewing gastroenterologists to perform your procedure, look for a physician with an ADR of at least 25 percent in men and 15 percent in women. The higher the ADR, the better. Research shows that for every 1 percent increase in a physician’s ADR, your risk of developing colon cancer over the next year decreases by 3 percent.

You may feel a little uneasy asking your potential doctor about providing an ADR, but rest assured that this is a reasonable request. Qualified gastroenterologists take pride in their hard-earned ADRs, and they will be happy to share this information with you. You should also inquire about your physician’s average withdrawal time, which is the amount of time it takes to remove the scope from the colon. You want a gastroenterologist with an average withdrawal time of at least six minutes.

Finding the right gastroenterologist may require a bit of courage and assertiveness, but it is well worth the effort. Make a list of questions to ask when interviewing potential physicians, and be sure include ADR and average withdrawal time. A high-quality physician is the key to a thorough examination and a future without colon cancer.

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Comprehensive Eye Exams are the Key to Early Detection for Glaucoma

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Next to cataracts, glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness in the world today. Glaucoma is not just one disease; it is an entire group of eye diseases that is characterized by elevated eye pressure that damages the optic nerve. Damage to the optic nerve is irreversible, and permanent vision loss can occur if glaucoma is not discovered in the early stages. There is currently no cure for glaucoma, and the existing treatments only serve to help prevent further vision damage.

Regular comprehensive eye exams are the best way to detect glaucoma at the earliest possible stage. During a comprehensive eye exam, your ophthalmologist will perform many tests to detect eye conditions such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, focusing problems, color blindness, cataracts, macular degeneration, and glaucoma. Glaucoma is often tested by tonometry, or a pressure test that blows a small puff of air into each eye. If elevated pressure is present in either eye, your ophthalmologist will know immediately.

If you are diagnosed with glaucoma, there are many treatments that your ophthalmologist can suggest. Many glaucoma patients begin their treatment by using medicated eye drops that help bring their eye pressure down to a safe level. If you have more advanced stages of glaucoma, your doctor may present other options like laser procedures or surgery to open up the filtration system in the eye or to shunt inner eye fluid away from the eye to lower eye pressure.

Because glaucoma often has no symptoms in the early stages, your best defense against glaucoma is having routine eye exams. A glaucoma test will be able to detect the disease much earlier than waiting for symptoms to present. One of the earliest warning signs of glaucoma is narrowing of the visual field, or reduced peripheral vision. By the time you may notice changes in your vision, the disease has often progressed to a more advanced stage.

Don’t take chances when it comes to your eyesight. Take a few moments to call your ophthalmologist to schedule a comprehensive eye exam. It will help prevent glaucoma and keep your vision healthy for years to come.

How to Cope with Winter Allergies

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Winter is the season of sniffs and sniffles, but your drippy nose may not be caused by the latest cold virus. When temperatures drop below freezing and you start spending most of your time indoors, you increase your exposure to indoor allergens like dust mites and mold. Much like a pollen allergy, your body may identify these foreign invaders as harmful substances and trigger an immune response. This means you develop a host of cold-like symptoms, including runny nose, watery eyes, itchy throat, and a persistent cough.

Because their symptoms are so similar, it can be difficult to differentiate between winter allergies and the common cold. However, there are some clues that can help you reach a diagnosis. A cold or flu typically will not last beyond 10 days, and symptoms will generally start to improve after two to three days. Winter allergy symptoms can last for weeks or even months without improvement. The cold and flu may also cause fever and body aches, both of which are uncommon with allergies.

If your symptoms last more than a week, schedule an appointment with your doctor or allergist to discuss the possibility of winter allergies. Your doctor may perform a skin test or blood test to confirm a diagnosis. If you do have winter allergies, there are a variety of treatment options available to relieve your symptoms. They include:

Antihistamines to block histamine activity in the body and prevent itching, sniffling and sneezing
Decongestants to clear mucus build-up and relieve inflammation
Allergy shots which build your immunity to particular allergens and have long-lasting effects

In addition to treatments prescribed by your doctor, you can help reduce allergy symptoms by making your home an allergen-free zone.

  • Wash all curtains and bedding in hot water. For delicate items that cannot withstand heat, wash on a low setting and rinse laundry twice for at least three minutes each.
  • Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter to vacuum all carpets, rugs and upholstery
  • Use allergen-proof covers on all mattresses, box springs and pillows
  • Wipe down all counters, cabinets, furniture, baseboards, and wood surfaces with a damp cloth
  • Use mold-killing products on shower liners, bathroom tiles and shower surfaces
  • Install HEPA air filters in your home and remember to change them regularly

Seasonal allergies aren’t preventable, but they can be managed with proper treatment and preparation. Take steps to make your home an allergy-free zone this winter, and schedule an appointment with your doctor if you develop bothersome symptoms. Finding the right treatment plan is the key to complete relief (Source: WebMD).

Safety is our Priority

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We are Medicare approved and undergo routine voluntary accreditation screening and surveying. All of our patients receive a complete health assessment and medical history review to ensure they are an appropriate candidate for care in an ambulatory surgery center. However, as with all surgical procedures, even those in the hospital, there are risks. Patients should review those risks with their physician before making a final decision on their care.

We want to assure our current and future patients that we are committed to offering a safe, high-quality patient experience and thank you for letting us be a part of your healthcare.

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