The CARD annual charity dinner at the House of Lords was hosted on the 22nd of February 2016 by the Gastroenterologist Dr. Pulak Sahay under the patronage of Lord Bhikhu Parekh to raise awareness about Reflux disease amongst the General Public.
The VIPs who attended & professed ongoing help & support to the charity included Baroness Masham, Nigel Adams MP, Nick Ross the Journalist, Prof. Colm O'Morain the eminent gastroenterologist from Dublin, Tracey Brown-the Director of the Charity "Sense about Science", Howard Duff-Director of England for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Richard Gardner- the CEO of the British Society of Gastroenterology, Peter Wilmshirst- the Cardiologist & highly successful Whistleblower, Navjoyt Ladher- Analysis editor at the BMJ & the Publisher & Philanthropist Mr. CB Patel.
Gastro oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) - a condition whereby the stomach contents reflux into the oesophagus causing heartburn & regurgitation is so common that it is considered part of normal life by the man on the street with 20% of the adult population in the UK suffering from it equating in absolute terms to 9.6 million people.
GORD symptoms are a major risk factor for development of oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OA) rendering a six fold greater risk in the refluxers than in the general population.
The incidence of OA which has an extremely poor prognosis is rising more rapidly than any other cancer in the western world and has gone up 6 fold in the last 20 years.
GORD patients experience decrements in health related quality of life leading to not only absenteeism but more importantly to presenteeism which reduces productivity & costs the UK millions. Everyone wants to help the cancer patient but that is too late in the day. Reflux which can be the cause of it needs tackling & Charities like CARD (Campaign Against Reflux Disease) educate people about it's banes with information on it's website www.cardcharity.co.uk as only by education will the tide of Oesophageal cancer be stemmed and reversed.
One simple way of tackling this would be for the Department of Health to encourage GPs to ask their patient's a single question about heartburn & give them an "Anti Reflux life style Measures" leaflet if appropriate.
Pharmacists can also play a crucial role in helping & guiding patients who come to buy antacids / acid suppressants over the counter.There is need to go back to basics to protect the patient rather than treat as Preventing a fire is better than Fire fighting!
Dr. Pulak Sahay is Consultant Gastroenterologist-MYT and Hon. Senior Lecturer of Medicine-Leeds University. He is also Ex- Clinical Lead for UGI Cancers- MYT.
