When the surgery is successfully performed, patients frequently experience almost twenty-four hour continuous relief of their heartburn symptoms, and these patients usually do not require supplemental medication. Many medical studies have examined this topic. It does not appear that Barrett's esophagus will totally resolve even if acid reflux no longer occurs. However, expert believe that reducing acid reflux may prevent the Barrett's esophagus from progressing to cancer. Therefore, patients with Barrett's esophagus should be treated with medication to resolve heartburn symptoms.
Frequent heartburn is defined as heartburn symptoms three or more times per week.
However, Barrett's esophagus occurs most frequently in white or Caucasian male patients. The reasons for this are not known, but women and African Americans appear to have a much lower risk for Barrett's esophagus even if they have chronic heartburn. Patients do not need to have chest pain in order to have heartburn. When acid refluxes into the esophagus, some patients experience a burning sensation, some patients experience a dull ache, some patients experience a soury watery taste in the back of their throat, and some patients become nauseated. All of these symptoms can be due to acid refluxing into the esophagus.