With today’s fast-paced lifestyle, many of us rush down food and grab a coffee to keep us going through the day. However, it’s time to take stock and reconsider these choices. Smoking, eating fatty or fried food, and drinking coffee and alcohol are all risk factors for developing various illnesses, including gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
“Gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, is a chronic condition that occurs when stomach acid rises to the oesophagus,” explains Dr Emad Fayyad, a Consultant Gastroenterologist at Medcare Hospital Al Safa. “Recurring acid reflux can progress to GERD. Many risk factors can trigger repetitive acid reflux, such as obesity, hiatus hernia, pregnancy, smoking, delayed stomach emptying, drinking coffee and alcohol, eating large meals, or eating late at night.”
As with any disease, prevention is key, and since a large proportion of residents in the UAE are estimated to suffer from GERD, it would be wise to re-evaluate any bad lifestyle choices.
“The UAE has recently seen a rise in cases of GERD,” says Dr Kote Shamsheer, a Gastroenterology Consultant at Medcare. “The exact prevalence of GERD is not fully known as most of the collected data is grouped for the whole of the Middle East. However, the prevalence rates in the Middle East are up to 33 per cent.
“The prevalence in the UAE can still be estimated to be high, without the actual numbers, by focusing on the prevalence of risk factors for GERD. Approximately 12.8 per cent of the UAE’s adult population smokes, and since smoking increases the risk of GERD, a correlation can be made between the prevalence rates of the latter.”
Due to the rise in cases and so many being at risk, it is important to be aware of the common symptoms of GERD.