hi,
I went for a gastroscopy the other day, and appart from GERD it appears I have this condition called intestinal metaplasia. Helico bacter was negativ. I googled it and everywhere the word 'precancerous' jumped into my face. Is anyone familiar with this? How is it treated?
The good news was that my intestinal mucosa is in good shape, so the diet seems to work. Not much use if I die of cancer though
tnx

bump

Well, that's very enlightening...

That means I don't have anything intelligent to add, but I want draw attention by putting it on the top of the new posts (BUMP).
I hope some one has a response for you soon.

Hi,
sorry, didn't know that, Thought it was your idea of telling me not to go hysterical
Which I should indeed not do. Thanks for your effort. If no answers come, at least I have learned something new

The way I understand it, metaplasia is where the cells have changed to an abnormal state. The road to cancer goes something like this:

Normal cells -------->inflammation----------->metaplasia----------->dysplasia---------->cancer

So it would appear that the cells have been inflamed long enough that they have changed and become abnormal cells, which left untreated can progress to dysplasia and can continue on to cancer.

If the source of irritation is removed, the cells can stop changing and may even return to normal.

Since your doctor now knows you have the metaplasia, he should monitor you closely to see if the cells are stablizing or progressing. There are things that can be done to prevent cancer even if the cells progress to dysplasia.

So, it does not necessarily mean that the metaplasia is going to turn into cancer, but it does need to be watched, and sources for the irritation need to be eliminated.

There is a lot of information on the web about this. Barrett's esophagus is a good example. If the reflux can be controlled in Barrett's, there is less chance of progression to cancer.

tnx for the info. Good to know it's reversable...thought it could only go from bad to worse. Oh well, now we know why I have stomach problems