Stretta procedure alleviates pain from GERD

For 12 years, Kathy Dickinson lived with the painful symptoms of Gastroesophageal reflux disease, a condition that causes pain such as heartburn.

"It would happen in the morning. It would happen after I ate. It would happen at night and it just progressively got worse and worse and worse," Dickinson said.

GERD happens when the lower esophageal sphincter weakens and allows food to flow up. For Dickinson, it meant coughing, pain and no sleep.

"When your whole esophagus is burning and you can't sleep because of it, it's really bad," Dickinson said.

Dr. Mark Noar told her about the Stretta procedure, a solution for many suffering from GERD.

"It helps people get off medications. It's safe, and at the same time, it eliminates their symptoms," Noar said.

With the Stretta procedure, patients are sedated while doctors insert a catheter down the throat and deliver radio frequency energy to stimulate tissue and strengthen muscles.

"The sphincter muscle gets thicker, stronger, so it won't open as easily," Noar said.

In a recent study, researchers found 72 percent of patients no longer had reflux 10 years after the procedure and 41 percent were off medication.

The study also found 85 percent of those with Barrett's esophagus, a pre-cancerous condition that can develop in GERD patients, no longer had the condition 10 years after having the Stretta procedure.

After the procedure, Dickinson no longer had GERD symptoms.

"Now, it really is something that's not part of my life anymore," Dickinson said.