A cautionary tale for those who experience acid reflux or heartburn:
I retired some 16 years ago. For the last 30 years I have been experiencing heartburn and always had a bottle of Gaviscon next to my bed or anti-acid tablets in my nav bag and car glove box.
I finally told my doctor about this and was referred to a Gastroenterologist.
It seems that the NICE protocol requires a gastroscopy peep down the oesophagus. Samples were taken and and these revealed that I had high grade displaysia caused when cells from my stomach work their way into the lower oesophagus.
The bad news is that these are pre-cancerous.
They have been scraped away and I am now subject to an annual gastroscopy to make sure that they have not returned.
So the moral is: Don't just stand there, if you have regular heartburn, Do something!
...and don't worry about the tube down the throat: With an injected sedation it is absolutely no problem.