Background. Since the incidence of adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus is rising, the prognosis is poor, and surveillance programs\nare expensive and mostly cost ineffective, there is a need to increase the knowledge of risk factors in Barrettâ��s oesophagus and\noesophageal cancer in order to be able to give attention to medical prevention and/or surveillance programs. Aim. To study if there\nis a correlation between the development of Barrettâ��s oesophagus and GOR (gastro oesophageal reflux), family history of GOR, and\nlife style factors, such as alcohol, smoking habits, and mental stress. Methods. Fifty-five consecutively selected patients with Barrettâ��s\noesophagus (BO) examined at Link�¨oping University Hospitalâ��s Oesophageal Laboratory were matched by sex, age, and duration\nof reflux symptoms with 55 GOR patients without Barrettâ��s oesophagus at the Oesophageal Laboratory. The medical charts in\nrespective groups were examined for comparison of life style factors, mental stress, medication, duration of gastroesophageal acid\nreflux at 24 hr-pH-metry, and incidence of antireflux surgery and of adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus (ACO). Also, potential\ngender differences and diagnosis of ACO were studied. Results.Mean percentage reflux time on 24 hr-pH-metry was higher for the\nBarrettâ��s oesophagus group, 18% for women and 17% for men compared to 4% for women and 4% for men in the control group\n(???? < 0.05). Family history of GOR was more frequent in Barrettâ��s oesophagus patients (62%) than in the control group (35%)\n(???? < 0.05). Male patients with Barrettâ��s oesophagus had medical therapy for their GOR symptoms to a higher extent (38%) than\nmale controls (65%) (???? < 0.05). No difference was found in the number of tobacco users or former tobacco users between Barrettâ��s\noesophagus patients and controls. Barrettâ��s oesophagus patients had the same level of alcohol consumption and the same average\nBMI as the control subjects. Female patients with Barrettâ��s oesophagus rated themselves as more mentally stressed (67%) than the\nfemale controls (38%) (???? < 0.05). In the five-year medical chart follow-up, five of 55 patients developed adenocarcinoma among\nthe Barrettâ��s oesophagus patients, none in the control group. Conclusions. Long reflux time and family clustering of GOR seem to\ninfluence the development of Barrettâ��s oesophagus. Smoking habits, alcohol consumption and BMI do not seemto have any impact\non the development of Barrettâ��s oesophagus.
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