# Keep your GERD treated!! Just had bad news.



## Rowe2 (Sep 26, 2002)

Hi everyone, I am a GERD patient, using Prilosec for the last five years. I wanted to pass this advise to anyone I could that might not be keeping their disease treated properly. I spoke with a friend the other night, and she said her mother had cancer of the thyroids in the neck. Her mom's doctor said that at least 95% of the reason she contacted the cancer there was because she had GERD and it was not treated properly. The other 5% was exposure to radition when she was younger, and the combination turned into cancer. I haven't ever heard of this before, but then again I am not a doctor. I do know that you risk a chance of cancer in the throat if the disease is not treated, therefore anything could be possible I guess. I am so sad for this lady. She will now have to go through chemo for a long time.


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## sabriel (May 27, 2002)

Hi Rowe,Sorry to hear about your friends mother, I hope she will be ok.I am a little confused about the relationship of cancer in the thyroid being due to GERD though. I have heard that GERD untreated can lead to a condition called Barretts Eosophagus which can lead to cancer of the Eosophagus, but not in the thyroid.I would also say to anyone that does have GERD, to make sure you do treat it and do your best to keep it under control due to the possibility of the Barretts link though.I have been on Somac (Pantaprazole) for about 4 - 5 years now and my GERD is pretty good about 99.99 percent of the time.Lets hope there will be some better treatments or even a permanent cure available soon.


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## Feisty (Aug 14, 2000)

Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with Barrett's Esophagitis 2 & 1/2 years ago. Yes, do keep up with treatment for your GERD so that it doesn't progress to Barrett's.I had symptoms of GERD for years and my Doc just kept telling me to "relax". That it was just an upset stomach caused by "nerves". Yep, you got it! Makes me so mad.







And I probably still would be untreated if it had not been for the Gastro doing an Endoscopy and biopsy to test for Celiac Sprue. Thankfully, i did not have Celiac Sprue.Barrett's Esophagitis is when the stomach acid has caused enough irritation and damage to the esophagus tube itself. And now, I am at a higher risk of developing esophageal cancer. Therefore, I am on daily meds (Prevacid) to keep the acid down in the stomach.As far as I know, Barrett's cannot cause cancer of the thyroid, unless it has spread to the thyroid via a cancerous esophagus.


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