“Most of my career has been centered on understanding how the esophagus works and managing or treating patients with esophageal diseases,” explains Dr. Jeffrey Conklin, medical director of the UCLA Robert G. Kardashian Center for Esophageal Health. “Probably the most common disease we see is gastroesophageal reflux, which seems to be rampant in our society these days. A lot of folks, if they could change their lifestyle, probably wouldn’t need medications."
"If you have heartburn and your primary care doctor has given you treatment, but it has not been successful, then you should probably be seen by a gastroenterologist to determine whether or not reflux is the cause of your heartburn. If the reflux is really bad and the patient is having a lot of problems, there are surgical techniques to take care of their reflux. We just opened this new center for esophageal health, and we’re looking forward to improving the esophageal health of people all over the community.”
Learn more at www.uclahealth.org/esophageal-center.