The ONLY Effective Heartburn Treatment

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The ONLY Effective Heartburn Treatment

Sunday, August 10th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

by Jeff Martin

To treat your heartburn, it’s important to select the correct and most effective solution for you. That means getting precise information on the real causes that underlie the heartburn symptoms. There are in general three kinds of treatment for heartburn: doctors’ prescriptions, surgical operations and natural/holistic solutions. These methods have marked differences in the way they are implemented and how they deal with different underlying factors, as well as in their effects over the long-term.

When the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) between the esophagus and the stomach functions correctly, food is allowed to move one way into the stomach, but then kept in the stomach by the closing of the LES to prevent acidic stomach contents from being pushed back the opposite way. However, when the LES muscle relaxes incorrectly, acid stomach contents can move back to the esophagus to cause the pain of heartburn. This explains why heartburn is the outer sign of acid reflux or GERD (gastro-esophageal reflux disease). GERD is what comes about when the LES valve between the esophagus and the stomach loses its muscular force.

Physicians habitually handle heartburn and associated problems by trying to use classical medications, some of which are available over the counter. These OTCs to counter acid reflux can be further classified 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 damp down acid creation and diminish acid production in the stomach, characterized by products like Pepcid AC, Axid AR and Zantac 75.

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

The Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery 2004 published research that found that PPIs do nothing to reduce the frequency of reflux attacks for GERD victims. Instead, PPIs simply convert acidic contents into alkali ones. The reflux still happens, but with an alkaline bile which may in fact be worse for the esophagus. Although short-term pain alleviation is promised by such drugs, long-term usage can be a significant problem. These drugs do not address the real issue, only the external manifestations. They set about this by altering the composition of the stomach chemically. These drugs typically only have short-lived effect and can induce long duration patient dependency as well as unwanted secondary effects.

If drugs are not the answer, is a surgical operation any better? Such operations are designed to stop the valve opening when it should be shut, thus blocking the flow back of gastric contents to the esophagus. The surgeon envelops the upper portion of the stomach around the lower esophageal passage in order to bolster the muscular valve at the meeting point of the esophagus and the stomach.

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 solutions above either attempt to decrease the quantity of acid produced, or neutralize the acid or reinforce the LES mechanically. However, none of them addresses the real cause. The major inconvenience of these classical methods for attacking heartburn is that they all address local GERD symptoms, only attempting to resolve the symptom and not the real cause.

Inner balance can also destroyed by Candida infection as well as bad diet and lifestyle habits, including excessive stress and poorly adapted sleep patterns, causing excess acidity, fermentation and stocking of toxins. For any real progress, it is the underlying factors that must be tackled to get rid of GERD and heartburn. Acid reflux comes about from the simultaneous existence of different medical and lifestyle factors. Genetic weakness, high fat foods, excessive weight and specific lifestyle and nutrition factors all band together to debilitate the LES that stops it from closing properly. The only possibility for permanently solving acid reflux and to prevent it from happening again is to address these root causes.

Jeff Martin is a certified nutritionist and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, (http://www.heartburnnomore.com/index2.html) Heartburn No More . To Learn More About Heartburn Visit: (http://www.acidrefluxatoz.com/what-is-heartburn.html) What is Heartburn

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