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Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (Heartburn)
Heartburn, a fiery feeling in your chest or upper abdomen, after you eat or lie down
Chest pain so strong you may think you’re having a heart attack
Throat burning, tightness, soreness, or hoarseness (especially when you wake up)
Scientists estimate that half of all people with asthma also have GERD, but they are not sure how the two conditions are related.
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GFRD) occurs when stomach acid (and sometimes food and liquid) backs up into your esophagus, the muscular tube that connects your throat and stomach. Normally, the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), a ring like muscular valve located at the bottom of your esophagus, keeps acid and other substances in your stomach.
The sphincter relaxes only when you swallow to permit food and liquids to pass into your stomach.
With GERD, the sphincter malfunctions, relaxing when it shouldn’t and allowing acid to reflux (move up) into your esophagus.
Because the tender lining of your esophagus doesn’t protect against stomach acid, you suffer heartburn or indigestion.
A serious complication of GERD is Barrett’s esophagus, a precancerous condition in which the normally gray-pink tissue of your esophagus becomes inflamed and salmon-colored like the stomach lining. Persistent GERD can also lead to scarring of the esophagus.
Pneumonia or bronchitis may occur as stomach acid refluxes and seeps into your lungs through the trachea (windpipe), usually, while you’re sleeping. GFRD also destroys tooth enamel when stomach acid backs up into your mouth.
Some people experience GERD because they have a hiatal hernia. In this disorder, the upper portion of the stomach moves into the chest by way of an opening in the diaphragm, the band of muscle that separates the chest and stomach. A hiatal hernia impairs the functioning of the LES, allowing acid and other stomach contents to reflux into the esophagus, causing the symptoms of GERD.
OUR UNIVERSES COMMENTS:
One thing you will most always see is the lack of
the Medical Profession identifying what the cause is, because often the cause
is very simple.
In fact, in most all cases of any disease
condition, it is the foods, and life style the person indulges in that creates
the toxic tissue condition or the poison that effects their tissues (causing
their breakdown), muscle responses (such as spasms) and all the other symptoms
each person experiences.
They do not want you to discover the fact that
your diet determines your body chemistry, cell and organ function or breakdown,
therefore simple adjustments in your diet not only will change your body
function from manifesting such symptoms or conditions as DERD or Hietal Hernia,
pneumonia, emphysema, asthma or just any other condition!
It is the way or manner in which you use a therapy
or product or if it is a food or a toxic substance that determines if it will
work or not! It does not matter if a
therapy or product has worked for someone.
The only reason it works or does not work is because it is a food or a
toxic poison that effects everyone in different ways or to different
degrees! Foods and substances are not
only chemical, but they are electro-magnetic in their nature and influences
both aspects of your body!
Our technology and science can prove these statements!
They continue:
GERD is usually identified by its symptoms, but certain tests can help your doctor confirm the diagnosis or check for complications.
• Barium esophagram or X ray helps your doctor see the upper part of
your digestive tract. You’ll need to drink a barium solution (a chalky liquid that shows up on X rays) before this procedure so your organs can be visualized.
• Endoscopy involves inserting a small, lighted, flexible tube through your mouth and into your esophagus and stomach so your doctor can check for abnormalities.
• Esophageal manometry tests the pressure of your esophagus and LES, while esophageal pH confirms or rules out the presence of excess acid reflux. For both tests, a small flexible tube is inserted through your nose and into the esophagus.
Most people can control moderate GERD by avoiding foods that trigger it, making certain lifestyle modifications (see Your Prevention Plan, page 342), and taking over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. If these steps aren’t enough, see your doctor. You may need to take a prescription drug. Severe cases may require surgery.
Both OTC and prescription drugs are used to treat GERD. OTC antacids neutralize stomach acid and ease an attack that’s already started. They include Maalox, Mylanta, Rolaids, and Turns. H2 blockers, also available over the counter, block the action of histamine, a chemical that encourages stomach-acid production.
They can actually help prevent an attack if you take them before eating (how long before eating varies from drug to drug). H2 blockers include cimetidine (Tagamet HB), famotidine (Pepcid Ac), nizatidine (Axid AR), and ranitidine (Zantac 75). If you find yourself taking these drugs often, see your doctor.
Available only by prescription, drugs called proton pump inhibitors disable the cell-level pumps that move acid into the stomach. They include lansoprazole (Prevacid), omeprazole (Prilosec), and rabeprazole (Aciphex). Another prescription drug, metoclopramide (Reglan), increases pressure on the LES to decrease acid reflux. It also helps move food out of the stomach, easing pressure.
In the past, if lifestyle changes and drug therapy were not effective, surgery (called fundoplication) was performed to tighten the LES muscle between the stomach and the esophagus. In this procedure, the surgeon folds and secures a portion of the stomach to establish a tighter sphincter. In a less invasive type of fundoplication the surgeon uses miniature instruments and a camera inserted through small incisions in the abdomen to perform the surgery.
Recently the Food and Drug Administration approved two new ways to treat GERD. Both methods involve inserting an endoscope (a slender, flexible, lighted tube) down the throat and into the esophagus to repair the faulty sphincter.
In the first method, electrodes on the end of the endoscope burn the muscle that opens and closes the LES, creating scar tissue. The scar tissue either calms the nerves that make the sphincter malfunction or tightens the sphincter itself doctors aren’t sure yet how it works. The second procedure uses a tiny stitching device like a sewing machine to gather up and tighten the valve.
Each of these new outpatient procedures takes only about an hour, and the side effects are minor: You may feel a little pain in your stomach or chest for a few hours after the surgery. Ask your doctor whether one of the new procedures might work for you.
Which drugs work Proton pump have been found to heal and cure erosive esophagitis, a serious form of GERD, more quickly than H2 blockers.
If you are taking cisapride (Pro pulsid), call your doctor now The drug was taken off the market because of its link to dangerous cardiac side effects and more than 70 deaths.
To prevent acid reflux while you sleep, put wood blocks under the bedposts at the head of your bed to raise it about 6 inches.
Don’t use extra pillows. They can cause you to bend at the neck or waist, putting increased pressure on your abdomen and increasing your risk for reflux.
• Avoid trigger foods. Certain foods and beverages can trigger GFRD, either by promoting stomach acid secretion or relaxing the LES. Stay away from alcoholic beverages, chocolate, citrus fruits and juices, caffeinated drinks, carbonated drinks, fatty and fried foods (French fries, hamburgers, eggs, whole milk, doughnuts), peppermint and spearmint (including breath mints and mint-flavored toothpaste), spicy foods, garlic, onions, peppers, and tomatoes and tomato-based foods (tomato juice, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, chili, and pizza).
• Get lean. Extra weight can make it more difficult for the LES to stay closed, contributing to acid reflux. Start a sensible diet and exercise program to shed any extra pounds.
• Start grazing. Eat smaller meals more frequently—perhaps five times a
day and eat them slowly to help avoid stomach bloating and pressure.
Sit down and relax at each meal.
• Timing is everything. Eat and drink at least three hours before going to
bed, and don’t snack at bedtime.
• Lay off liquor. Alcohol aggravates GERD symptoms, and beer can bloat the
stomach, driving stomach acid into the esophagus.
• Stay upright. You have a greater risk of GERD when you lie on your back
after a meal, so sit up for several hours after eating.
• Wash it down. Drink plenty of water eight 8-ounce glasses a day—to
wash stomach acid down to the stomach where it belongs.
* Move things along. Exercise keeps the gastrointestinal system working normally. And gentle exercise done
regularly can help ease GERD by reducing stress. But avoid exercises that involve bending over, because this can aggravate heartburn.
• Avoid certain drugs. Some over-the-counter drugs, including ibuprofen, naproxen, and aspirin, may lead to the burning of GERD. Prescription drugs that can cause heartburn include some tricyclic antidepressants, some calcium channel blockers, and some bronchodilators (such as theophylline).
Ask your doctor if one of your prescription drugs might be contributing to your GERD.
• Try tea. Drinking chamomile tea between meals three to four times a day may relieve inflamed or ~ irritated mucous membranes in your digestive tract and helps promote normal digestion.
Ginger tea may also provide relief. Boil 11/2 tea spoons of fresh ginger (or ~/2 teaspoon of powdered ginger) in one cup of water for about 10 minutes before drinking.
• Look to licorice. Licorice protects the esophagus by boosting production of mucin, a substance that forms a protective barrier against stomach acid. Before meals, chew licorice-root tablets in deglycyrrhizinated form (which doesn’t increase blood pressure or cause water retention as licorice does).
• Look for herbal relief. Mix ~/2 teaspoon of goldenseal extract with 3 table spoons water and drink the mixture at the first sign of burning to soothe the membranes that line the gastrointestinal tract. Also, try drinking ‘/2 cup Aloe-Vera juice three times a day between meals. If indigestion is your main problem, several herbs can help, including fennel, yarrow, and barberry.
• Drink cabbage juice. Visit a health food store to find cabbage juice, whose glutamine content may calm the burning of GERD.
• Sip a baking-soda cocktail. Baking soda can help neutralize stomach acid. Mix 1 teaspoon baking soda in a glass of room-temperature water and sip at the first sign of burning pain. Baking soda is high in salt, so check with your doctor before using it if you’re reducing your salt intake.
• Chew on this. One study found that chewing a stick of sugarless gum provided heartburn relief in 70 percent of participants. The chewing action stimulates the production of saliva, which helps wash stomach acid back down the esophagus.
OUR UNIVERSES COMMENTS:
We warn you on using any of these or any other
suggestion, if you do not know whether or not what is suggested is going to be
compatible with your body chemically or electro-magnetic makeup. If it is not compatible it will hurt you in
varying degrees, depending upon the degree it is or is not compatible!
Take our seminars or seek out a professional who
has an understanding of our science to get the very best results!
Our tell you professional about us so they can
take the seminar we present on earth!
Frequent heartburn or indigestion may signal a more serious condition—such as ulcers or bleeding in the esophagus— that could worsen if not diagnosed and treated early If you use OTC drugs to quell your symptoms more than twice a wee/s see your doctor.
Stay loose. Wear loose-fitting clothes. Tight belts, panty hose, and pants put pressure on the stomach and may force stomach acid upward.
• Douse the flame. Don’t smoke. Nicotine stimulates stomach-acid production and relaxes the muscle between the esophagus and the stomach, allowing acid to reflux.
• Say no to stress. Stress reduction may help some people with GERD. Take up meditation, yoga, or deep breathing, and engage in regular exercise, such as brisk walking, swimming, or cycling.
OUR COMMENTS:
We wish you good luck, because that is what you will need if you do not know our technology and science to help you govern your life activities and lifestyle!