Sleeping with the bed-head raised is commonly recommended as treatment for patients with troublesome oesophagitis, but its effect has not been objectively tested. Ranitidine therapy is useful in oesophagitis, but it does not often produce complete relief of symptoms. The effects of each of these treatments alone and in combination have been studied in 71 patients with severe (grade III) peptic oesophagitis. Each treatment improved both symptoms and endoscopic appearances significantly more than placebo did. However, the combination of the two treatments was much better than either alone; the reduction in pain score and the area of ulceration healed were about twice those with either treatment alone. Smoking more than five cigarettes per day or drinking more than 30 g alcohol per day significantly reduced the effectiveness of ranitidine therapy, but age, sex, body weight, or the presence of a hiatus hernia had no detectable effect.