Heartburn
treatments can be generally classified into
three main categories: conventional medications, surgery
and the holistic/natural approach. These interventions
vary considerably in the way they work, in the different
heartburn causative factors that are tackled, and
especially in the durability of the results. In order to
choose the most effective and appropriate way of
treatment for you, it is obligatory that you obtain the
accurate information about the underlying conditions
that cause the occurrence of your heartburn.
What
causes Heartburn?
Heartburn is one of the various
symptoms of gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD),
also called acid reflux. GERD occurs when the muscle
connecting the esophagus with the stomach (the lower
esophageal sphincter (LES) is weakened. When the LES functions
properly, the sphincter
allows food and water to pass into the stomach but
prevents the highly acidic gastric contents from
splashing back and come into contact with the esophagus.
However when this muscle is weak/relaxed, it allows
stomach acid to flow ("reflux") into the esophagus.
Heartburn is the burning painful sensation experienced
when the refluxed acids come into contact with the
lining of the esophagus.
Medical
doctors tend to treat heartburn and other acid reflux
symptoms using prescription medications and over the
counters. Acid reflux drugs can also be divided into
three main categories:
- Antacids,
such as Tums, Rolaids, Mylanta and Maalox. These drugs
neutralize stomach acid by creating a covering that
wraps the stomach contents.
- H2
blockers that reduce the production of acid, such as
Pepcid AC, Zantac 75 andAxid AR. These drugs are
aimed at reducing stomach acid production in the
gastric system.
- PPI
(Proton pump inhibitors), such as Prilosec, Nexium and
Wyeth's Protonix, block the mechanism in the stomach
cells that releases acid.
While all the above-mentioned
medical treatments can effectively relieve painful
heartburn symptoms in the short run, there are several
potential downsides to the regular/long-term use of
these drugs. Heartburn medications fail to tackle the
underlying reflux problem but instead change the
chemical ingredients of the refluxed gastric context.
For instance, a study that was published in 2004 in the
Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery revealed that PPIs
do not have any impact on the frequency of reflux
episodes among GERD sufferers; PPIs
simply transform the acidic gastric refluxed contents
into alkaline. Instead of being exposed to acid, the
esophagus is exposed to bile that is an alkaline and
potentially more injurious gastric content. It is safe
to say that the vast majority of acid reflux drugs work
temporarily and also create a long-term dependency.
Moreover, GERD drugs can have a myriad of unwanted side
effects.
Surgery -
Treatment to Heartburn.
An
alternative to drug heartburn
treatment is surgery . To prevent stomach acids from
being splashed back into the esophagus, the surgeon
frees up the upper part of the stomach, wraps it around
the lower esophagus and sutures it to itself. The
purpose of this procedure is to strengthen the natural
valve between the stomach and the esophagus. This is
done to prevent the refluxed stomach content to come
into contact with the esophagus.
However,
reflux surgery involves many risks and side effects,
such as bloating, swallowing problems, nausea, diarrhea
abdominal cramping and more. Moreover, after the surgery
heartburn symptoms can appear again over time,
especially if a patient didn’t make any lifestyle or
dietary changes that have triggered acid
reflux.
Conventional
Treatments.
It
comes out that the main downside of all conventional
treatments for heartburn is that they focus on treating
the local GERD related impairments (e.g. decreasing the
amount of acid produced, neutralizing acid reflux,
surgically altering the GI tract or tightening the LES).
None of those treatments is aimed at tackling the
underlying causes that contribute to acid reflux
occurrence.
Acid
reflux disease occurs due to the coexistence of several medical
and lifestyle conditions. Those include genetic
weakness, obesity
, excessive fat
ingestion, various foods, drugs and lifestyle
characteristics (including inadequate sleep and
excessive stress) that weaken the LES and prevent the
LES from being closed properly. In addition to that,
there are several factors that lead to the intestinal
dysbiosis that can result in extra acidity, toxic
overload and fermentation in the gastric system. Candida
infection and certain dietary and lifestyle choices are
the main culprits for this
dysbiosis.
Did you
know that there are all-natural holistic treatment that
can treat heartburn and other GERD related symptoms by
tackling those contributing factors? Holistic
treatment is the only way to permanently reverse
acid reflux and prevent its recurrence.
