Even though this booklet offers help and additional information to patients who would like to find out more about their symptoms and their illness, it cannot replace a personal consultation with your doctor. Before starting, terminating or changing your therapy, consultation with your doctor is essential.
If we have used terms implying a specific gender, this has been done for stylistic clarity and readability only (unless we have done so in specific case study scenarios). The use of any specific gender is also intended to apply to the opposite gender and there has been no intention to sound gender insensitive or sexist.
Image sources:
p. 1: © yuoak, istockphoto.com; pp. 8–51: © StudioBarcelona, istockphoto.com; p. 13, 16, 18, 24, 26, 29, 30, 31: © Peter Hötzl, ONLINE MEDIA® Communications Design GmbH; p. 29: © Valentina R. & rcfotostock, fotolia.com;
p. 30: © Markus Mainka & Elena Schweitzer & ExQuisine, fotolia.com;
p. 31: © unpict & Mara Zemgaliete & Richard Oechsner & EM Art, fotolia.com
Copyright © 2019 maudrich Verlag
Facultas Verlags- und Buchhandels AG, Vienna, Austria
All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission
of the copyright owner.
Cover by Facultas Verlags- und Buchhandels AG
Cover illustration: Nattakorn Maneerat & StudioBarcelona, iStockphoto.com
Proofreading: Sabine Sauerzapf, Vienna
Typeset by Norbert Novak, media-n.at, Vienna
Printed and bounded by Finidr, Czech Republic
ISBN 978-3-99002-075-3
epub: ISBN 978-3-99030-900-1 (english), ISBN 978-3-99030-893-6 (german)
Acknowledgements
I thank my wife Martina, my parents Friedhild and Ewald, my sister Senta and her family, my friends, colleagues and mentors for their major support, passion and understanding, without which the project would not have gotten to this stage. In addition, I thank those, who came to see me to seek medical care and from whom I learned so much. Finally I am grateful for the opportunity afforded me to further our knowledge of our being, of our existence.
Martin Riegler
I want to thank my husband Dieter for his encouragement. Furthermore, he was willing to forego our free time on weekends in order I had time to write.
Karin Hönig-Robier
Preface
Maximizing revenue, market share and profits is the mission of many businesses and organizations, irrespective of size or domain. The responsibility for this falls to the manager and with this come enormous expectations. Whether you are a CEO of a multinational enterprise, chairman of a big bank or manager of a technical enterprise, head of a trade union or politician – expectations are the same and they are enormous for executives as well as employees.
The constant accessibility and availability required rarely allow time for considering issues related to lifestyle and nutrition. Racing from one appointment to another, from one challenge to the next, increasingly fosters the development of negative stress. At the end of the day you are exhausted and left with a bitter taste in your mouth.
As a consequence of the above stress factors, the body starts to develop signs of strain. With this booklet we aim to focus on a classical “lifestyle disease” affecting millions of individuals in Western industrialized nations with increasing frequency, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and its symptoms heartburn, regurgitation, chest pain, wheezing, coughing and asthma.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that stress can induce somatic symptoms, including gastrointestinal tract signs and symptoms.
Are you experiencing symptoms once or twice a year? Then we have to congratulate you! If the above symptoms occur more often you are among the approximately 1.5 million Austrians, 100 million Europeans, 80 million South Americans or 60 million North Americans (USA), who are also affected as such. As this number of affected people is increasing, we recommend reading this booklet.
No time for reading? Reading this booklet takes less than one hour, i.e. the time required for a short distance flight! Designed as a compact, focused guideline, this booklet will help you recognize reflux-inducing situations and includes important information to prevent progression of the disease, GERD, without the need for medical therapy. This booklet provides clear easy to follow, lifestyle recommendations to improve quality of life and well-being of managers, leaders and staff members. The information provided in this booklet will help you discover that revenue, market share and pressure for success do not have to cause acid reflux.
With the above goal and considerations in mind, we wish you a thought-provoking and motivated read. We hope you find this booklet helpful in improving your well-being and productivity.
Martin Riegler & Karin Hönig-Robier
Humans don’t miss love anymore,
Because they, the humans, have got it out of their minds,
They miss nothing but the money.
M. Riegler
Content
1 How reflux (GERD) develops 13
2 Follow the trail of GERD: professional
GERD diagnosis 17
3 Reflux confirmed – what comes next? 21
4 Ten typical reflux traps managers tend to fall into 34
5 Case reports: 43