From heartburn to GERD to colon cancer, Dr. Charles Shana’s the expert! His objective is to diagnose and then choose an appropriate course of treatment. He treats the full digestive tract and works hand in hand with the internists and primary care physicians. A primary care physician is the first stop in seeking treatment, and from there they can refer you to a gastroenterologist for more complex symptoms. For heartburn and GERD he can offer treatment by starting with weight loss by looking at a patient’s diet and their exercise routine. Dr. Shana offered some foods to avoid that are common culprits of acid. When those treatments don’t work, he may have to use surgical measures to provide the patient relief. He explained at what point those surgeries may be recommended. Dr. Shana can use a LINX surgery that is cutting edge and he described how that surgery is performed along with a couple other options. There is great reward to performing colonoscopies for Dr. Shana too. He can literally prevent a patient from getting colon cancer and he expressed how good that feels to report to the patient. And while colonoscopies are the gold standard for detecting colon cancer he did discuss other alternatives that have proven to be fairly effective in detection. Learn more at Gastroenterology | Southcoast Health.