Husband sneeze so loudly?
because of a weakness in the diaphragm, the sheet of muscle that separates the chest from the abdominal cavity. This makes it easier for the acidic stomach secretions to reflux back up the oesophagus, the pipe that connects the throat and stomach. This can cause heartburn, discomfort in the chest and also discomfort in the throat and bad breath. It can also cause a persistent dry cough.
Being overweight, particularly carrying excess weight around the abdomen, puts you at risk as this increases pressure on the stomach. So the first line of treatment should always be to lose weight and this may be all that is required to relieve symptoms. It also helps to cut down on alcohol and to avoid wearing clothing that presses on your stomach. Otherwise drugs known as proton pump inhibitors such as lansoprazole or omeprazole – which reduce the production of stomach acid – are the main treatments.
They can take a couple of weeks to start working and to begin with it’s usually necessary to take them for a couple of months. It is possible to correct a hiatus hernia with surgery but this is a complex operation and
If you have a health question for Dr Rosemary please write to her in confidence at The Northern & Shell Building, 10 Lower Thames Street, London EC3R 6EN or email health@ express.co.uk.
Dr Rosemary’s reply will appear in this column. She regrets that she cannot enter into personal correspondence and that, due to the volume of letters, she cannot reply to everyone. Find out more about Dr Rosemary at drrosemary leonard.co.uk is usually only done for those with severe, persistent symptoms that do not respond to medical treatment.
READERs REsponD
AS with your reader (June 6), I was diagnosed with interstitial cystitis (IC) after urine tests carried out by my GP and a urologist showed no infection. I had a cystoscopy and bladder stretch but my symptoms got worse. I was urinating up to eight times an hour and couldn’t go out.
Medications including Vesicare and amitriptyline helped but side-effects included blurred vision, fits, massive weight gain and “brain fog”. I heard about a clinic at the Whittington Hospital in north London where they specialise in treating chronic urinary infections with long-term antibiotics.
Two years later, I am symptom-free and have been off antibiotics for three months. Chronic UTIs become embedded in the bladder wall and short courses of antibiotics don’t work. Thanks to the clinic I now have my life back. Go back to your GP and ask to be referred to a specialist in chronic infections – not IC.
C Andrew, by email