Shannon Medical Center | Health Beat | Spring 2020

6 HEALTH BEAT R ecently, the millions of Americans who take the anti-reflux medication Zantac awoke to the news that Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid have moved to pull Zantac and its generic versions from their shelves after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration identified an active ingredient containing low levels of cancer-causing chemicals in samples of the drug. Zantac is one of the most widespread medications in the U.S. pre- scribed to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, along with other household names like Protonix, Nexium, Pepcid and Prevacid. While these medications may help decrease or even stop your heartburn symptoms for now, most people don’t realize that these drugs do not actually stop reflux from happening.They only change the level of acid in your stomach fluid so that you can try to ignore your reflux throughout the day. But over time, the medications can become less effective, and in some people, they don’t even work at all. Common symptoms of GERD include heartburn, regurgitation, nau- sea, difficulty swallowing, having the sensation of a lump in your throat and chronic chest pain.This disease affects about 20% of the U.S. popu- lation, which is about 65 million people! FINDING BETTER SOLUTIONS The Shannon Reflux Clinic works closely with patients to find more ef- fective treatments for acid reflux. We offer several long-term solutions, including the LINX® procedure, to help our patients get off medications and end their painful battle with GERD. The LINX procedure is a simple outpatient surgery that is intended to help people who take reflux medications but still have symptoms or who want to be able to stop their reflux medications completely. It can pro- vide permanent help in treating and preventing GERD symptoms, with 95% of people off medication and reflux-free on the day of the operation. WHAT IS LINX? LINX is a ring of magnetic, expandable titanium beads the size of a quarter. Using only a few small incisions, the ring is placed around the lower esophagus, close to the stomach opening. Once in place, it helps keep stomach acid out of your esophagus and in your stomach, where it belongs. Also, since the ring is expandable, patients are still able to eat normally—and it’s the only reflux surgery that still allows you to belch or vomit if you need to. LINX has been around for more than 13 years, and it has been proven to be safer and longer-lasting than any other reflux surgery currently available. All of our reflux procedures are minimally invasive and do not require a hospital stay. Over the past three years, Shannon Medical Center has also become one of the leading centers in the entire country for reflux disease, having completed almost 300 LINX procedures and 450 reflux surgeries overall. And in our case, more experience means better out- comes for our patients, achieving results far better than the national average across the board. YOU DON’T HAVE TO LIVE WITH REFLUX As a physician, I’m tired of hearing people dismiss their GERD as just a “bad meal choice” or as something that they just have to live with. So often I hear people say that their reflux is fine and their meds are work- ing well, but only if they don’t eat after the sun goes down and avoid all the foods that they used to love eating. I hate to be the one to break this to you, but that means your reflux is not fine. GERD is a disease, plain and simple. And if you are paying to take a medication to fix a problem, but you are still having symptoms despite taking that medicine, then you have a choice. You can either keep looking for new pills to throw at your heartburn and hope that the next one works better than the last, or you can choose to fix your reflux once and for all! The Shannon Reflux Clinic is a multidisciplinary clinic with surgeons and GI physicians who work together to find the best option for patients with GERD, and we have changed the lives of hundreds of people in the San Angelo community. So instead of looking for a replacement for your Zantac or saying “no” to salsa with your chips, remember that the LINX procedure may be the answer you’ve been looking for. Wellness Get relief from reflux By Benton Brown, MD, General Surgery Director, Shannon Reflux Clinic LINX is covered by most insurance providers. Self-referrals are accepted. For more information or to schedule a meeting with Dr. Brown to learn more, call the Shannon Reflux Clinic at 325-481-2344 . The LINX procedure