Heartburn Health, a national research programme to find ways to improve care for people with heartburn, indigestion or acid reflux is now live in Scarborough and is looking for volunteers with these symptoms, aged 55-79 to take part.

Supported by the NHS and Cancer Research UK, Heartburn Health is creating a community of over 120,000 people who experience heartburn, indigestion or acid reflux. Taking part will enable experts to research issues like how to manage symptoms as well as detect other health problems such as cancer early on, when they are easier to treat.

Volunteers who enrol may be invited to take part in further pioneering research studies, such as the BEST4 Screening Trial, which is looking to find out whether we can detect more serious health problems in the oesophagus earlier.

Heartburn Health is live for a limited time now in Scarborough, so the research team is asking men aged 55 to 79 and women aged 65 to 79 who live in the area and have acid reflux, indigestion or heartburn, to spare a few minutes to enrol, as soon as possible. Volunteers can either click this link or respond to a text message from ‘NHSresearch’ if they have received one.

Heartburn is extremely common, affecting up to 25% of adults in the UK according to Guts UK*.  It is estimated that around 1 in 10 people with persistent heartburn will develop Barrett’s Oesophagus, and between 3 and 13 in 100 of those will go on to develop oesophageal cancer- where cells in the food pipe start to grow abnormally – in their lifetime. **

According to analysis from Cancer Research UK*** there are around 9,300 new cases of oesophageal cancer in the UK every year. It is the seventh most common cause of cancer death in the UK, with around 22 deaths a day from the disease****. But it is also preventable in as many as 59% of cases.

It only takes minutes to sign up to Heartburn Health and by doing so, participants will represent Scarborough by being part of the biggest ever research programme to transform care for people with heartburn.

The information provided by volunteers will be used securely by approved researchers to answer important research questions.

How to get involved:

This research programme is open to men aged 55 to 79 and women aged 65 to 79 who have regular symptoms of heartburn, acid reflux, or indigestion, or who regularly use medication to manage these symptoms.

You can enrol now online by clicking the link here to help improve the lives of people with heartburn, indigestion and acid reflux.  You can also call 0808 281 4772 with any questions or support with signing up.

If you receive a text message from ‘NHSresearch’, you can also click the link in the message to sign up.

Visit www.heartburnhealth.org for more information about the programme, including details of how to take part.

What are the benefits of enrolling?

Joining Heartburn Health will give you the chance to take part in ground-breaking research and make important discoveries about reflux and related health conditions, possible.

One of the clinical trials in Heartburn Health that some participants may be invited to join after enrolling is the BEST4 Screening trial. This clinical trial, funded by Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR), is assessing whether a device called the capsule sponge test (or “pill-on-a-thread”) could be used in future population screening to identify people with heartburn who may have Barrett’s Oesophagus – a condition that may lead to oesophageal cancer. This is a simple, acceptable and effective test and has been shown to increase detection of Barrett’s Oesophagus in primary care settings.

Who is involved:

Heartburn Health has been created by clinicians and researchers at the University of Cambridge and Queen Mary University of London. The NHS and Cancer Research UK are also supporting this research programme.