{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,13]],"date-time":"2026-07-13T16:32:27Z","timestamp":1783960347761,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"5","content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Gut"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1997,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>BACKGROUND: At least 10-15% of patients with reflux symptoms have a normal endoscopy and physiological levels of acid reflux on pH monitoring. Such patients with 50% or more of symptoms associated with acid reflux episodes have \"a positive symptom index\" (SI), and it has been proposed that this defines the \"sensitive oesophagus\". AIM: To test the response to omeprazole 20 mg twice daily for four weeks of patients with normal levels of acid reflux using a randomised, placebo controlled, double blind, cross-over design. PATIENTS: Eighteen patients with normal levels of reflux, 12 of whom had a positive SI. METHODS: Response was measured by symptomatic assessment and the SF-36 quality of life (QOL) questionnaire. RESULTS: Patients with a positive SI showed the following improvements on omeprazole compared with placebo: decrease in symptom frequency (p &lt; 0.01), severity (p &lt; 0.01) and consumption of antacids (p &lt; 0.01). In the group with a negative SI only one patient clearly improved. The QOL parameters for bodily pain (65.6 v 53.4, p = 0.03) and vitality (60.6 v 48.8, p = 0.049) were significantly better on omeprazole than placebo for the group overall. CONCLUSION: Omeprazole improves symptoms in 11 of 18 patients with normal endoscopy and pH monitoring, particularly those with a positive SI. This supports the theory that such patients have an oesophagus which is \"sensitive\" to acid reflux and are part of the GORD spectrum.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1136\/gut.40.5.587","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2014,8,18]],"date-time":"2014-08-18T14:06:44Z","timestamp":1408370804000},"page":"587-590","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":192,"title":["Double blind cross-over placebo controlled study of omeprazole in the treatment of patients with reflux symptoms and physiological levels of acid reflux--the \"sensitive oesophagus\"."],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"40","author":[{"given":"R G","family":"Watson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"T C","family":"Tham","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"B T","family":"Johnston","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"N I","family":"McDougall","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[1997,5,1]]},"container-title":["Gut"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/gut.40.5.587","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,8]],"date-time":"2025-09-08T07:36:04Z","timestamp":1757316964000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/gut.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/gut.40.5.587"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[1997,5]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[1997,5,1]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1997,5]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1136\/gut.40.5.587"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/gut.40.5.587","relation":{},"ISSN":["0017-5749","1468-3288"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0017-5749","type":"print"},{"value":"1468-3288","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[1997,5]]}}}