Acid Reflux

Acid Reflux: Study Says Drugs Just as Good as Surgery

According to a study mandated by a new Medicare law, data has come back saying that drugs can be just as effective as even surgery in managing the symptoms of Acid Reflux. This can affect many people, as it is estimated that sixty million Americans have acid reflux (GastroEsophageal Reflux Disease or GERD).

Acid reflux is known as when a person’s stomach acid backs up into the esophagus and causes that heartburn feeling. Sometimes it can affect breathing and even cause a person to feel as is they are suffocating. If not treated, this may eventually lead to esophageal damage.

Many people have noticed a susceptability to certain, highly acid foods and often have to avoid these foods to minimize the effects of their acid reflux. If you get woken up in the middle of the night from Acid Reflux, keep a journal of the foods eaten and make note of those foods you ate in the previous 12 hours. Then start eliminating those foods from your diet and see if you sleep and breathe better.

Also… make sure to take the time to relax. Stress and Acid Reflux make for a bad combination and if you can’t sleep at night, you’ll just get more fatigued with each passing day.

The good news is that the recent data indicates that people with debilitating acid reflux have a choice between taking pills or surgery.

Here’s some of the things they found in this recent study:

- With chronic GERD, over-the-counter medications (such as Zantac, Pepcid and Tagamet — each with their own respected trademarks) are not as effective as proton pump inhibitors. But the proton pump inhibitors can have more side effects.

- The respected brands Nexium, Prevacid and Prilosec OTC are all similar in the degree of effectiveness. And when compared to surgery, they seem to compare similarly in relieving the discomfort of GERD.

If you have acid reflux, the best thing to do is to seek help from your medical professional. You can get trusted advice and then make your own choice. And for some people, their acid reflux may be so severe that they’ll need to have surgery and then follow up with medications to really get a handle on it.

Heartburn Relief Without Drugs

Millions of people worldwide suffer an occasional bout of heartburn. Many of those suffer frequently, and try one product after another to gain heartburn relief. Products range from simple over-the-counter indigestion relievers to prescription drugs for heartburn relief. But is heartburn relief possible without drugs of any kind?

It has been said that only about 1 out of 100 people who take drugs for heartburn relief really need them. Heartburn, like every other pain in your body, is a warning signal. It is telling you that something must be changed.

If the warning light in your car tells you to check your engine, you do not ask a mechanic to disconnect the light so it will not bother you. That is asking for a bigger problem! You ask the mechanic to check the engine, and correct the root problem that causes the light to come on.

Heartburn relief should not be a matter of turning off the “warning light” so you don’t see it. Heartburn relief should address the root cause of the warning light.

Cause of Heartburn

In simple terms, heartburn is a muscular problem.

The lower esophageal sphincter (LES), a specialized ring of muscle located at the end of the esophagus, opens when you swallow to let food pass into the stomach. It then closes quickly to keep things in the stomach. When the LES doesn’t close quickly enough, or reopens at the wrong time, stomach acid flows back into the esophagus. The acid on the sensitive lining of the lower esophagus causes a burning sensation.

True heartburn relief must make the LES operate properly. It must keep the LES from relaxing inappropriately, or it must strengthen the LES. How can that be done?

How can you get true heart relief without drugs?

1. Diet

Heartburn relief must obviously pay attention to the food that is moving from the esophagus into the stomach. We are all different. Our stomachs produce differing amounts of gastric juices, with differing degrees of acidity. The food you eat must be digestible by your individual system.

Returning to our vehicle illustration, what happens when you use improper fuel? It isn’t long until the engine lets you know! If the fuel contains water or sediment, or if the octane level is wrong, you will know. All you have to do is listen to your engine.

Heartburn relief requires listening to your body. The next time you have heartburn, think back to what “fuel” you just put into your body. What did you eat? Write it down and forget it for now. Do this each time you have heartburn. After a month, look over the list. Does the same “fuel” always demand heartburn relief? Avoiding that fuel may be your answer.

2. Actions

The failure of your muscle to keep the door closed between stomach and esophagus may be as simple a matter as your actions. You may be doing things that make the door open.

Eating too fast, eating too much, or not chewing food well can all contribute to heartburn. Bending at the waist after eating is commonly connected to heartburn, as is tight clothing. Allowing yourself to become overweight puts undue pressure on that area of the body, an action best corrected by losing weight. Going to bed on a full stomach or exercising too soon after eating will also call for heartburn relief.

Your heartburn relief may be as simple as changing your actions. Try eating more slowly, and chewing every bite thoroughly before swallowing. This incorporates more saliva, which helps the stomach digest the food. Stop eating before you are too full. Wait at least 2 hours after eating before exercising – at least 3 hours before going to bed. Addressing other actions that put pressure on the lower esophagus may also bring heartburn relief.

3. Water

Another factor in heartburn relief is the consumption of adequate amounts of clean water. If you suffer heartburn during or after exercise, you may simply be dehydrated. Every muscle, including the LES that prevents backflow of stomach juices, needs sufficient water to function well. Be sure you drink plenty of water daily, with extra when exercising.

4. Garlic

Garlic provides heartburn relief for many, especially those who have H. Pylori. H. pylori is a bacterium found in the stomach. It works with acid secretion to damage stomach tissue, causing inflammation and contributing to heartburn. For heartburn relief, try eating 1 or 2 cloves of fresh, raw garlic daily until the H. pylori is eliminated.

5. Oxygen

Have you considered whether you are breathing deeply and regularly? As noted above, the root cause of heartburn is muscular. Muscles demand oxygen for efficient functioning. If, because of stress or poor habits, you fail to