Sunday, May 20th, 2012

What Is GERD?

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD), Gastric reflux disease, or Acid reflux disease is defined as chronic symptoms or mucosal damage produced by the abnormal reflux in the esophagus. This is commonly due to transient or permanent changes in the barrier between the esophagus and the stomach. This can be due to incompetence of the lower esophageal sphincter, transient lower esophageal sphincter relaxation, impaired expulsion of gastric reflux from the esophagus, or a hiatus hernia. If the reflux reaches the throat, it is called laryngopharyngeal reflux disease. If the liquid were something like water, there'd be no problem. However, the ...

GERD Symptoms

GERD is manifested as a severe burning sensation radiating from the stomach to the chest and throat. People suffering from heartburn may experience acute pain and discomfort during the day or during the night. Adult Gerd sufferers have reported experiencing acute pain in the night time due to GERD just like in heart failure or angina. The most-common symptoms of GERD are: Heartburn Regurgitation Trouble swallowing (dysphagia) Less-common symptoms include: Pain with swallowing (odynophagia) Excessive salivation (this is common during heartburn, as saliva is generally slightly basic and is the body's natural response to heartburn, acting similarly to an antacid) Nausea Chest pain GERD sometimes causes injury of the esophagus. These ...

GERD Causes

GERD is caused by a failure of the cardia. In healthy patients, the angle at which the esophagus enters the stomach—creates a valve that prevents duodenal bile, enzymes, and stomach acid from traveling back into the esophagus where they can cause burning and inflammation of sensitive esophageal tissue. Another paradoxical cause of GERD-like symptoms is not enough stomach acid (hypochlorhydria). The valve that empties the stomach into the intestines is triggered by acidity. If there is not enough acid, this valve does not open, and the stomach contents are churned up into the esophagus. However, there is still enough acidity to ...

GERD Treatment

GERD affects nearly one third of the United States adult population to some degree at least once a month. Almost 10% of adults experience GERD weekly or daily. Not just adults are affected; even infants and children can have GERD. Physicians normally recommend life style changes in the first instance. Other options include Medications like - Antacids: Antacid may be aluminum, magnesium, or calcium (usually calcium carbonate) based and used one hour after the meal to avoid symptoms of reflux and neutralize acid. Proton pump inhibitors (PPI): Proton pump inhibitors (or "PPI"s) are a group of drugs whose main action is a pronounced and long-lasting reduction ...