Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic staffBarrett's esophagus signs and symptoms are usually related to acid reflux and may include:
- Frequent heartburn
- Difficulty swallowing food
- Chest pain
- Black, tarry stools
- Vomiting blood
Many people with Barrett's esophagus have no signs or symptoms.
When to see a doctor
If you've had long-term trouble with heartburn and acid reflux, discuss this with your doctor and ask about your risk of Barrett's esophagus.
Seek immediate medical attention if you:
- Have chest pain
- Have difficulty swallowing
- Are vomiting red blood or blood that looks like coffee grounds
- Are passing black, tarry or bloody stools
- Rich HG. Barrett's esophagus. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2009: Instant Diagnosis and Treatment. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/145544773-3/0/1701/0.html. Accessed June 23, 2009.
- Wang KK, et al. Updated guidelines 2008 for the diagnosis, surveillance and therapy of Barrett's esophagus. American Journal of Gastroenterology. 2008;103:788.
- Azodo IA, et al. Barrett's esophagus. American College of Gastroenterology. http://www.acg.gi.org/patients/gihealth/barretts.asp. Accessed June 23, 2009.
- Shaheen NJ, et al. Barrett's oesophagus. The Lancet. 2009;373:850.
- Barrett's esophagus. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddieases/pubs/barretts/index.htm. Accessed June 23, 2009.
- Crockett SD, et al. Health-related quality of life in patients with Barrett's esophagus: A systematic review. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2009;7:613.
- Waxman I, et al. Mucosal ablation of Barrett esophagus. Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology. In press. http://www.nature.com/nrgastro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nrgastro.2009.90.html. Accessed June 24, 2009.
- Sharma P, et al. Management of nondysplastic Barrett's esophagus: Where are we now? American Journal of Gastroenterology. 2009;104:805.
- HALO 360 System. Barrx Medical, Inc. http://www.barrx.com/Patients_and_Families/index.cfm/421. Accessed June 25, 2009.
- Heartburn, gastroesophageal reflux (GER), and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/gerd/index.htm. Accessed June 29, 2009.
