Reader's Digest Australia Feb/Mar 2026

monitoring or a wireless pH test. Proper diagnosis is necessary because if it isn’t GERD, treatments for GERD won’t help (for example, if the problem is actually dyspepsia, commonly known as indigestion; an ulcer; or gas- troparesis, when the stomach empties into the small intestine too slowly). Ten percent of GERD sufferers will develop Barrett’s esophagus. “With Barrett’s, you need to get an endoscopy every two or three years to see if there are any changes, because you can treat it early,” says Dr. Rami Sweis, a gastro- enterologist with University College Hospital in London who advises the nonprofit Guts UK. If any pre-cancer or cancer is detected, he says, treatment can be provided through the endo- scope. When doctors diagnose GERD, they usually prescribe PPIs, medication that suppresses acid production within the stomach. H2 blockers, another type of acid suppressor, are prescribed less often because they are less effective. “In reflux, gastric acid comes up into the esophagus and causes symptoms or lesions,” says Dr. Jan Tack, gastroin- testinal (GI) disorders researcher at KU Leuven in Belgium. “So controlling acid makes a big difference for the majority 68    february/march 2026 of patients, and apparently does not have a negative effect on the digestive process.” Doctors also recommend lifestyle changes to discourage stomach acid from entering the esophagus. They include refraining from eating between two and four hours before bedtime, sleeping with your head elevated (wedge pillows are specially designed to relieve GERD; they go underneath your regular pillow), avoiding tight- fitting clothing and losing weight. “In perhaps 75 percent of patients with reflux, treatment with lifestyle changes plus medication are absolutely successful,” says Dr. Sebastian Schop- pmann, head of the upper GI depart- ment at Medical University of Vienna. Some GERD patients seek other kinds of treatment because medication doesn’t improve their symptoms well enough, as with Bharadwaj, or it has unwanted side effects. The good news is that the number of GERD treatments has grown in recent years. “The reason there are more and more treatment choices is that no one thing is perfect for everyone,” says Dr. Paul Goldsmith, an upper GI surgeon at Manchester University NHS Founda- tion Trust in the U.K. Here are some of those options. Fundoplication Fundoplication is the most common treatment to strengthen the valve between the esophagus and stomach. It is performed laparoscopically, mean- ing that open surgery (when one large incision is made) can usually be avoided. The surgeon makes several small incisions in the abdomen and inserts the tools and a camera. The hia- tal hernia is corrected by returning the upper stomach to its place below the diaphragm. Next, the uppermost por- tion of the stomach is wrapped around the valve, which strengthens the its ability to stay closed—reducing the risk of stomach acid rising into the esoph- agus. In the past, surgeons mostly per- formed a 360-degree stomach wrap, but that was often too tight; as a result food didn’t move down the esophagus as easily, and some patients had diffi- culty belching or vomiting. Some also had trouble swallowing food. Today, surgeons can perform one of several partial wraps, such as a 270 or 180 degrees, which improve GERD symp- toms without causing more discomfort. Dr. Radu Tutuian, chief of gastroen- terology at Civic Hospital Solothurn in Switzerland, recalls treating a Swiss man in his 60s with heartburn, regurgi- tation and a chronic cough. After he underwent fundoplication, most of his GERD symptoms faded, although he had trouble swallowing and was not able to eat full meals during recovery. “For a couple of weeks he was very uncomfortable,” Tutuian says. “But he said, ‘I don’t want to go back to how I was before, to my reflux and the cough.’ He felt better and no longer needed to take PPIs. So his goals were met.” readersdigest.com.au     69