| When good burps go bad
It's totally freaky, but if you always thought heartburn was just heartburn, you may be in for a surprise. Most of the time it is, but for some folks it's really gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a really annoying condition that can potentially lead to other scary illnesses like asthma, lung infection, inflammation of the esophagus and even cancer. GERD is caused by the reflux of stomach contents back into the esophagus, and when those are high in acid it becomes a more serious problem. Once you get GERD, many say, it usually becomes a lifelong problem, meaning you will need treatment for the rest of your life. Is that so? .
Health & fitness beat: Jan. 15
FEEL THE BURN To relieve the heartburn of gastroesophageal reflux, many people take acid suppressants, including a type called proton-pump inhibitors. The inhibitor drugs are thought to interfere with the body's use of calcium, so researchers wondered whether this might lead to more broken bones. Funded by GlaxoSmithKline (a company that makes a different type of reflux-combating drug as well as marketing an osteoporosis drug), researchers analyzed data on 148,942 people older than 50. During a 15-year period, 13,556 of them sustained a broken hip. Taking proton-pump inhibitors for more than a year was found to increase the likelihood of a hip fracture by 44 percent, compared with never taking them. As the dose and length of treatment increased, so did the risk, especially among men.
Don't short-change other conditions during cancer care
Q: My dad was just diagnosed with cancer in addition to a heart condition and diabetes. Should cancer treatments now be his major focus for medical care? A: Like your father, many others who are older face other diseases when they are diagnosed with cancer. Experts estimate that more than half of patients diagnosed with cancer are dealing with another chronic condition such as hypertension, osteoporosis, lung disease, heart conditions and diabetes. In medical lingo, these secondary illnesses are tagged as comorbid, meaning they can form a type of partnership, each contributing toward poorer survival rates. Six out of 10 cancer cases are among those 65 years old or older, who often contend with two and more chronic conditions. As a result, this comorbidity factor will continue to run high among the elderly.
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