Health: Doctors Warn Frequent Heartburn Could Progress To Something Much Worse
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A new warning for those who suffer from frequent heartburn.
Doctors are urging those who get heartburn often to take the condition seriously.
Jennifer Sheppard was diagnosed with Barrett's esophagus shortly after pregnancy.
If the condition goes untreated, it can lead to esophageal cancer, a disease, doctors say, that has a low survival rate.
"Ninety-percent of patients that are diagnosed with esophageal cancer will unfortunately be dead within five years," says Dr. F. P. Tripp Buckley III, a surgeon.
The American Cancer Society estimates 17,000 people will be diagnosed with the disease this year.
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