Coping with HIATUS HERNIA

This condition is where part of the stomach squeezes up into the chest through the opening in the diaphragm

- Dr Gill Jenkins

Normal values for sleep

A sleep study of over 50,000 women showed night-time artificial light and air pollution were associated with shorter sleep duration. Living in green space areas led to longer sleep duration. Unsurprisingly, environmental noise caused delay in falling asleep. In another study, females averaged 8.3 hours sleep per night at age six, falling to seven hours for young adults, increasing slightly at age 65. Males needed 8.1 hours per night at age six, falling to 6.5 hours in early adulthood, increasing slightly after 60.

WHICH WEIGHTLOSS SURGERY?

Two weight-management surgical options are gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy. In a study of patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes, those treated with the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass had better outcomes than those given a sleeve gastrectomy. Gastric bypass resulted in greater weight loss and better diabetic control and, over five years of follow-up, fewer major cardiovascular events. Discuss with your surgeon if you are considering having such surgery.

The diaphragm is a thin sheet of muscle, dividing your chest and abdomen. There’s normally a small space where the oesophagus (the tube between the mouth and stomach) goes down, but if this enlarges, it allows the stomach to be pushed up, and this is a hiatus hernia. It may not produce direct symptoms, but it can cause the stomach acid to reflux up into the oesophagus (gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, GORD) if the valve at the bottom of the oesophagus is faulty.