Juliet Cohen asked:


Heartburn or pyrosis is a painful or burning sensation in the esophagus. Heartburn is a form of indigestion. Heartburn is a burning feeling in the lower chest, along with a sour or bitter taste in the throat and mouth. It usually occurs after eating a big meal or while lying down. Heartburn is also identified as one of the causes of chronic cough, and may even mimic asthma. Heartburn is linked to eating habits and posture. It happens when acid from your stomach gets forced upwards into the oesophagus ,This is called acid reflux. About 30% of adults experience occasional heartburn, while 10% experience heartburn every day.

About 25% of pregnant women have heartburn or related symptoms. Heartburn is an irritation of the esophagus caused by acid that refluxes from the stomach. Some other factors that can make heartburn worse include certain foods, such as fatty foods, spicy foods, chocolate, caffeine, onions, tomato sauce, carbonated beverages and mint, alcohol ,large meals ,lying down too soon after eating and certain medications, including sedatives, antidepressants and calcium channel blockers for high blood pressure. Cigarette smoking is main cause of heartburn.The primary symptom of heartburn is a burning pain in your chest, under your breastbone.

This pain may decay when you bend over, lie down or eat. It may also be more frequent or worse at night. Most people can control the irritation of heartburn with lifestyle modifications and over-the-counter medications. Several kinds of medicine can be used to treat heartburn. H2 blockers (Pepcid, Tagamet, Zantac) reduce the amount of acid your stomach makes. Other medicines, such as omeprazole (Prilosec) and lansoprazole (Prevacid), also reduce how much acid the stomach makes. Metoclopramide (Reglan) reduces acid reflux. If the heartburn continues, you may need prescription surgery.

Heartburn Treatment and Prevention Tips

1. Smoking may increase stomach acid.

2. Antispasmodic drugs and motility stimulants may be prescribed.

3. Alginates are useful when there is reflux of stomach acid.

4. Eat smaller meals reduces pressure on the lower esophageal sphincter.

5. Acid suppressants, such as histamine H2-antagonists also helpful.

6. Antacids, such as maalox, rolaids and Tums, neutralize stomach acid and can provide quick relief.



Beverly

Jeff W. Martin asked:


Will Aciphex help any victims of heartburn to find real relief? In the following article, an ex heartburn sufferer relates the unpleasant facts about Aciphex, after having measured it against many alternative solutions, and all this for an Over The Counter medicament against heartburn known by millions. Sales per annum of Aciphex already topped $1.3 billion (figures from 2006).

Although healthy people can sometimes get heartburn also, chronic heartburn (every two or three days) may suggest acid reflux, also known as GERD – gastro esophageal reflux disease. About 20% of adults in developed western countries must endure recurring heartburn. The name heartburn simply describes the burning sensation of pain in the throat or the chest, often brought on after a meal.

The acid reflux at the root of the pain of heartburn is triggered by the weakness of the esophageal sphincter. It can lead to inflammation of the inner esophagus (esophagitis) and difficulties in swallowing, bleeding, esophageal passage constriction, Barrett’s esophagus, and sometimes cancer. GERD is the medical condition generated by the incorrect functioning of a muscle between the esophagus and the stomach. Called the lower esophageal sphincter, this muscle’s function is to block off the esophagus from the stomach to stop acidic content from moving back into the esophagus.

Aciphex tries to reduce stomach acidity as a way to reduce acid reflux symptoms such as heartburn. There are however at least two factors provoking acid reflux. Besides acidity being too high in the stomach, the other one is depleted strength of esophageal sphincter.

Halting the production of stomach acid is the hallmark of the group of PPIs (Proton Pump Inhibitors). PPIs do this by “dismantling” the proton pump, which is what the stomach uses to fabricate acid. Aciphex is a member of the PPI group, developed to treat acid reflux symptoms, and which also contains Prevacid, Protonix and Prilosec.

Nonetheless, the real reason for acid reflux lies elsewhere. Aciphex is only concentrating on the feeling of heartburn. When the real reason is neglected, it will continue to produce the symptom and this may even result in drug dependency and even bigger problems of acid reflux. Even if it may be true that almost instant relief is brought by Aciphex and other PPIs, downsides are also part of the equation? In particular, because gastric acid aids digestion and kills certain invasive bacteria and viruses, deliberately stifling its production may be unwise.

A surprising conclusion was derived from the role of gastric acid which normally extends to disabling pathogens that enter the mouth, the esophagus and then the stomach. Without stomach acid, these microbes can then make their way back up the esophagus and contaminate the lungs to cause pneumonia. Not only this but other side effects almost as undesirable also come about. This information comes from medical research carried out in 2004 in Holland.

One of the other side effects noted from the artificial prevention of stomach acid was the simultaneous prevention of the body to correctly absorb calcium. Incorrect calcium balance in the body can lead to osteoporosis because of incorrect mineral bone density. UK research showed a 44% greater chance of breaking a hip, for sufferers over the age of 50 who had been using PPIs for over a year, compared to acid reflux sufferers not using PPIs. The types of PPIs referred to included Nexium, Prilosec, Aciphex, Protonix and Prevacid.

The right holistic approach will allow you to put GERD behind you forever and safely prevent it from ever coming back. Were you aware that heartburn and its painful sensations can now be a thing of the past without having to take Aciphex or any similar medicament?



Sally

Jeff W. Martin asked:


There are typically three principal kinds of treatment for Heartburn: classical medicine, surgical operations and the natural/holistic solution. These methods are very different in the way that they operate and their approach to resolving the different underlying factors, as well as in their effects over the long-term. It’s important to select the correct and most effective solution for you and that means getting precise information on the real reasons that lie behind the symptoms of heartburn.

Heartburn is the external manifestation of acid reflux or GERD (gastro-esophageal reflux disease). GERD is what happens when the muscular valve between the esophagus and the stomach is weakened. This valve is also known as the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). When the LES is in a normal, healthy state, it allows food to pass one way into the stomach, but shuts afterwards to prevent acidic stomach contents from being pushed back the opposite way. It is when this muscle relaxes at the wrong moment that acid content refluxes into the esophagus and causes the pain and burning that is known as heartburn.

Physicians habitually treat heartburn and associated problems by prescribing medications, some of which can be bought over the counter. These drugs to treat acid reflux can be further divided into three categories:

1. Antacids, examples being Maalox, Rolaids, Mylanta and Tums. They neutralize stomach acid by creating a covering that envelops the food content.

2. H2 blockers to reduce acid creation, examples being Pepcid AC, Axid AR and Zantac 75. They diminish acid production in the stomach.

3. PPI (Proton Pump Inhibitors), examples of these being Nexium, Protonix and Prilosec, which act by blocking the stomach cell mechanism that releases acid.

Although short-term alleviation of pain can be effected by these drugs, long-term usage can lead to a number of problems. These drugs do not treat the underlying causes but only the symptoms and they do this by changing the chemical ingredients of the gastric system. The Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery published an article in 2004 to show that PPIs do not help with the frequency of reflux attacks for GERD victims. PPIs simply change the acidic contents into alkali ones. The reflux still occurs in the esophagus with acid content now being changed in to an alkaline bile that may in fact be no better. These drugs in general only have a temporary effect and can also lead to long-term dependency. GERD drugs such as these can also generate many undesirable secondary effects.

The next alternative to drugs is surgical intervention. The surgeon uses the upper part of the stomach to wrap around the lower part of the esophagus in order to reinforce the valve mechanism between the esophagus and the stomach. This is designed to stop the valve opening when it should not, thereby halting the flow back of stomach contents into the esophagus.

This solution is not without its problems however. Risks and secondary effects include cramps in the abdomen, diarrhea, nauseous feelings, bloating and problems in swallowing. A patient who relies solely on this is likely to be disappointed as without the right lifestyle of diet alterations, heartburn symptoms can come back again.

The major drawback of these classical methods for resolving heartburn is that they all target local GERD symptoms and give solutions only for reducing the symptom, and not the real cause. They try to decrease the quantity of acid produced, or neutralize the acid or tighten mechanically the LES. Yet in no case are the real causes being addressed.

It is the simultaneous existence of different medical and lifestyle factors that provoke acid reflux. Genetic weakness, fatty foods, being overweight and specific lifestyle and nutrition factors all conspire to weaken the LES which stops it from closing properly. Inner equilibrium can also be perturbed by Candida infection and poor diet and lifestyle habits, including undue stress and inadequate sleep patterns, which lead to excess acidity, toxic accumulation and fermentation. It is the underlying factors that must be tackled to treat heartburn. This is the only possibility for permanently solve acid reflux and to prevent it from happening again.



Michelle

peterhutch asked:


H-2-receptor blockers. Over-the-counter H-2-receptor blockers, such as cimetidine (Tagamet HB), famotidine (Pepcid AC), nizatidine (Axid AR) or ranitidine (Zantac 75), are available at half the strength of their prescription versions. Instead of neutralizing the acid, these medications reduce the production of acid. They don’t act as quickly as antacids, but they provide longer relief. Take these medications before a meal that you think may cause heartburn because it takes them about 30 minutes to work. They’re also effective in reducing reflux at night if taken at bedtime. Some H-2-receptor blockers can cause infrequent side effects, including dizziness, diarrhea, headache, kidney problems and temporary ****** enlargement in men. In rare instances they can also react dangerously with other medications.

Elevation of the upper body at night generally is recommended for all patients with GERD. Nevertheless, most patients with GERD have reflux only during the day and elevation at night is of little benefit for them. It is not possible to know for certain which patients will benefit from elevation at night unless acid testing clearly demonstrates night reflux. However, patients who have heartburn, regurgitation, or other symptoms of GERD at night are probably experiencing reflux at night and definitely should use upper body elevation. Reflux also occurs less frequently when patients lie on their left rather than their right sides.

Patients with mild symptoms are treated as needed with non-prescription remedies like antacids, a non-prescription H2 blocker, or the non-prescription proton pump inhibitor (PPI), omeprazole (brand name: Prilosec OTC). For patients with more severe symptoms, or for those who do not respond adequately to non-prescription therapies, continuous treatment with a prescription-strength H2 blocker or PPI is recommended. H2 blockers and PPIs both work by decreasing the production of stomach acid that causes many of the symptoms of gerd.

Decreasing the size of portions at mealtime may also help control symptoms. Eating meals at least 2 to 3 hours before bedtime may lessen reflux by allowing the acid in the stomach to decrease and the stomach to empty partially. In addition, being overweight often worsens symptoms. Many overweight people find relief when they lose weight.

Treatment for GERD and heartburn ranges from over-the-counter remedies to surgery. Here’s a rundown on the pros and cons of your heartburn treatment options.

Pay Close Attention to Your Diet—Foods and drinks that aggravate GERD include spicy foods, acid based foods, greasy foods, alcohol, and caffeine. Before you bite into that pizza or fried chicken, think about how you are going to feel a couple of hours from now. Before you drink those beers, followed by that cup of coffee, think about the last time you did that and were up all night. If you are suicidal and enjoy great pain, drink that big glass or orange juice on an empty stomach. Sometimes changing your diet can be the key in controlling acid reflux.

Whereas the stomach has a protective lining so that it doesn’t succumb to the acid, the esophagus has no such lining. That’s why upwardly mobile stomach acid burns, sometimes so badly that you may think you’re suffering a heart attack.

Medications ranging from over-the-counter antacids to prescription drugs are used to treat acid reflux. Find out what your options are and which are best for you.



Victoria

Mark Syme asked:


 Have you ever wondered exactly what process causes heartburn? There’s a lot of research into the whole deal and how different treatments work to control your heartburn. I’ll be explaining how it all works in a bit of detail, shouldn’t be too technical but it’ll give you an in depth look at what’s happening.

First of all for a bit of anatomy, at each end of the stomach you’ve got a sphincter which is like a valve that controls the flow of food into and out of your stomach. At the top of your stomach you’ve got the LES (Lower Esophageal Sphincter) as in at the lower end of the esophageus. And at the other end of the stomach is the Pyloric Sphincter. Now the Pyloric Sphincter has to open to let broken down food through into the duodenum (the top part of your intestine) and what controls this is acid receptors or sensors at the bottom of the stomach. These receptors respond to the acidity reaching a certain level which means that the food has been broken down enough.

But what happens if the acid isn’t strong enough to trigger the sphincter to open? Well then, the food and stomach acid stays in your belly and churns around and it all begins to ferment! This process releases gases and that increases the pressure inside the stomach. All this time the body is trying to get the food to go on down the digestive tract and so the stomach is contracting to get things moving, but if the pyloric sphincter won’t open…

At the end of the day the LES is weaker than the pyloric sphincter so the build up of pressure will go up the esophageus rather than down the gut. So the burping and acid reflux is the end result of this whole process. Bit of a process I know, but I hope this makes it all a bit clearer for you. PPI’s Now, if you go a doctor with GERD (gastro esophageal reflux disease) you’ll likely be given a prescription for a PPI medication. PPI stands for Proton Pump Inhibitor and what this does is blocks the action of your stomach to produce as much acid.

This is how it works to stop heartburn, but the effects don’t stop there. Since you’ve decreased the acidity in the stomach, your food won’t be broken down as much by the time it gets into the intestine and also more bacteria will pass through the stomach and into the duodenum. This can make you much more susceptible to “stomach bugs” and excess bacteria living in the stomach. Over the longer term PPI’s have been linked to calcium deficiency as your body can’t absorb it is easily to become reliant on the PPI’s considering that as soon as you stop taking them you’ll get the heartburn back again! This could be considered a great thing by the companies that produce the PPI’s but not necessarily by the individual!

So it would seem that if you could increase the amount of acid in the stomach the pyloric sphincter would do it’s thing as it’s supposed to and the acid would go down instead of up and it’s all good. So how do you increase the acidity in the stomach? Quite simply, increase the micro nutrients that the body requires to produce stomach acid! In most cases these are a few B vitamins. Specifically Vitamins B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin) and B6 (pyridoxine) are the most common ones. Just supplementing these I your diet can fix the whole problem at it’s root.

There’s plenty of cases of chronic GERD sufferers taking B vitamins for only a few days and getting rid of most of their symptoms, without drugs and for the long term. This information isn’t meant to replace your doctors advice but hopefully it’ll all work to cure your heartburn for good!  If this information was helpful then you should check out my blog here for more great tips and information.

All the best,

Mark Syme  



Leon

Janet Martin asked:


Have you ever experienced heartburn – that burning feeling rising from the stomach or lower chest up towards the neck? If so, you may be suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a serious condition that affects many people, including 50 million Europeans.

Unfortunately, many sufferers are not getting the right medical treatment because the condition is usually unrecognized by patients and often misdiagnosed as dyspepsia (indigestion).

This was revealed by participants of the Genval Workshop in Belgium that recently developed guidelines for the management and treatment of GERD. The workshop brought together 35 doctors from 16 countries, including primary care physicians, gastroenterologists and surgeons with a major involvement in GERD.

GERD is a potentially serious disease characterized by the reflux or backward flow of stomach acid into the esophagus (food pipe). Some backflow of the stomach acid happens occasionally and is no cause for alarm. However, when this happens frequently, it can have a major negative impact on the person’s quality of life.

A recent American population survey of GERD patients showed that 75 percent had difficulty sleeping, 51 percent couldn’t work while 40 percent found exercise painful. In addition, GERD carries a significant risk of esophagitis (inflammation of the esophagus) and other complications like cancer.

Heartburn is the primary symptom of GERD and is found in 40 percent of the adult population of the Western world. In a study of over 800 European patients with GERD, heartburn was experienced by 86 percent of the patients. However, the Genval delegates said the true prevalence of GERD couldn’t be determined since the disease is often misdiagnosed and misunderstood.

To address this problem, the Genval participants encouraged doctors to describe heartburn in locally relevant language to prevent misinterpretation and help patients recognize this symptom. This will allow physicians to provide sufferers with the most effective treatments available.

Since heartburn can be triggered by large meals as well as fatty and spicy foods, eat a balanced diet and avoid eating too much. Overeating can make you an easy target for GERD and lead to obesity which is bad for your health. To help you lose weight safely and naturally, take Phenocal – a powerful supplement that will boost your metabolism, suppress your appetite, increase energy levels, and help you shed those unwanted pounds. For more information, visit http://www.phenocal.com.



Warren

Andrew Bicknell asked:


Most of us experience heartburn on occasion, but those who suffer from chronic heartburn may have much more serious disease known as acid reflux disease or GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease). It is a condition that has become much more common with an increasing number of people showing up in their doctor’s office being diagnosed with it. Acid reflux is just what it sounds like, the digestive acids in the stomach reflux, or flow back into, the esophagus causing discomfort, pain and damage to the esophageal membranes.

The first symptom most adults suffer from GERD is simply heartburn. It normally feels like a burning sensation or pressure beneath or behind the heart. As acid reflux progresses the symptoms can progress to a bitter taste in the back of the throat, pain or burning in the throat, and problems swallowing. If for any reason you think you have acid reflux or are experiencing the chest pain, which could be signs of heart disease, associated with it it is important to see a doctor as soon as possible.

Acid reflux disease, if left untreated, can cause life altering and eventually life threatening problems. The gastric acids can damage the lining of the esophagus causing inflammation known as esophagitis. It can also damage the larynx causing voice problems and hoarseness, chronic cough, choking, and post meal nausea and vomiting.

As the lower portion of the esophagus becomes increasingly damaged by stomach acid Barrett’s esophagus will begin to develop. This is a condition in which the cellular structure of the esophagus begins to change and is considered a pre-malignant condition that increases the risk of esophageal cancer development.

The cause of acid reflux may not be what you think it is. Many people believe that their symptoms are caused by the overproduction of stomach acids, and while this does play a role the actual reason the acid is able to regurgitate back up into the esophagus is the failure one or combination of three components of the esophagus; the anti-reflux barrier (ARB), the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), and the gastroesophageal valve (GEV). These three barriers function is to keep stomach acids from refluxing back up into the throat and when they are weakened or fail they are no longer able to prevent this from happening.

The treatment of acid reflux disease consists of several options, or a combination of treatments. One of the first things patients are asked to do is change their diet and avoid those foods that set off the production of excess acid. This may involve keeping a food log for several weeks that will help identify foods that make the condition worse. There are also a number of over-the-counter and prescription medications available that help control acid production. Your doctor is the best source of information when it comes to choosing the correct medications for this disease. In extreme cases surgery can be performed to fix the problem.

If you think you have acid reflux disease it is important that you speak with your doctor so that you can get the proper treatment. What may be mildly annoying symptoms today could turn into something much more serious without the proper diagnosis and treatment.



Leslie

Mark Syme asked:


 

Ok, so I’m guessing that if you’re reading this article either you, or someone close to you suffers from heartburn…but do you know what it really is?  Is heartburn different from reflux?  And most importantly, how can you control your heartburn?

 

First of all lets take a quick look at how the stomach works (or not as the case may be!) So, basically your stomach is like a bag with two valves (or sphincters), one at each end.  When you swallow food comes in the top and sits on the bag (your stomach) until your body decides that it’s broken down enough to move on into the small intestine.  

 

How your body judges this is by how acidic your stomach is.  If your stomach isn’t acidic enough the bottom valve won’t open, so the food sits there and ferments letting off gas and other nasties.  The pressure then builds as the body tries to get things moving but, here the problem is that the top valve is weaker than the bottom one.  So that means the extra pressure forces all these lovely fermenting gases up your throat!

 

Does this sound like what you experience?

 

So what is really causing acid to go back up your throat, is that it’s too weak!  Sounds really strange but that’s the body for you isn’t it?  This also explains why as people age they tend to suffer from more heartburn even though their stomach acid is getting weaker.

 

So is there any difference between heartburn and reflux?  To put it simply…no.  They’re just two names for the same thing.  And if you’ve looked around and seen GERD everywhere and you’ve been wondering who the hell that is, it stands for gastro-esophageal reflux disease.  So just another name for the same condition.

 

There’s a whole range of drugs, some of which work to relax the lower valve so that food passes through.  This has been linked to fairly serious long term complications.  Other treatments focus on increasing the strength of the stomach acid so that the bodies own processes work better.  

 

I hope this information has been useful to you and if you want more information check out my blog here

 I wish you all the best and relief form your heartburn.

Mark Syme  

 

 

 

 



Samuel