How to Cure Acid Reflux Disease
How to Cure Acid Reflux Disease Naturally - Learn How to Cure Acid Reflux Disease Naturally
Do you suffer from acid reflux or frequent heartburn? The burning sensation at the back of your throat or down by the breat bone can be quite painful.
So how is Acid Reflux treated? One of the effective cures for GERD, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, is referred to as life-style changes. This consists of a mixture of changing your routine, predominantly changing your food intake. There are quite a few modifications in eating practices that can be favorable in treating GERD.
Lifestyle Modifications:
* Avoid soft drinks that contain caffeine. Other foods to avoid are chocolate, peppermint, spicy foods, acidic foods like oranges, canned tomatoes, onions, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels and sprouts.
* Milk and milk-based products contain calcium and fat, so should be avoided before bedtime.
* Avoiding food for 2 hours before bedtime and not lying down after a meal are frequently recommended lifestyle modifications.
* Elevation to the head of the bed is the next-easiest to implement. Products are also available as seen on tv that will elevate the head of your bed through the use of an inflatable mattress lifter. This is an ideal low cost solution for relief from acid reflux.
You can also accomplish the correct elevation by placing cinder blocks as noted above or with other items: plastic or wooden bed risers which support bed posts or legs, a bed wedge pillow.
The height of the elevation is critical and must be within the range of 6 to 8 inches in order to be as effective as possible in hindering the backflow of gastric fluids. Elevating the bed is also known as "positional therapy".
Reflux is more likely to occur when patients with Acid Reflux lie down. Reflux of acid is more damaging at night than during the day. During nighttime, when human beings are lying down, it is easier for reflux to take place. The explanation for this is simple. Gravity is not holding back the reflux, as it does in the upright position during the day. Additionally, the lessening of the effect of gravity permits the refluxed fluid to pass further up the esophagus and stay in the esophagus for a longer period of time, causing more damage to the esophagus.
Raising the head will raise the esophagus above the stomach, and, to some extent, reinstate the effects of gravity. Additionally, it is essential that the upper body and not just the head be raised. This elevation of the upper body at nighttime usually is suggested for all patients with GERD. Nonetheless, a good number of patients with GERD have reflux only during the day and elevation at nighttime is of little comfort to them.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to know for certain which patients will gain comfort from elevation at night. Not unless acid testing undoubtedly reveals night reflux. Conversely, patients who have regurgitation, heartburn, or other indications of GERD at night are perhaps experiencing reflux at night and certainly must use upper body elevation. Moreover, reflux also happens less often when patients lie on their left sides than on their right sides.
A variety of foods are known to increase reflux. These foods include chocolate, peppermint, caffeinated drinks, and alcohol. Fatty foods, which should be decreased, and smoking, which should be stopped, also decrease the pressure in the sphincter and promote reflux. Additionally, patients with GERD may discover that other foods worsen their symptoms. Some examples are spicy or acid-containing foods, carbonated beverages, tomato juice and citrus juices.
These foods should be avoided. Antacids are also known to reduce the problems brought about by Acid Reflux. Antacids are said to neutralize the acid in the stomach so that there is no acid to reflux. The dilemma with antacids is that their effectiveness is short. The best way to take antacids is about one hour after eating meals or just before the symptoms of reflux start after a meal.
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Drug treatments:
A number of drugs are registered for the treatment of acid reflux, and they are prescribed by gastroenterlogists. They can be used in combination with other drugs, although some antacids can impede the function of other medications.
However these medications leave long term side effects and one you stop taking them reflux symptoms comes back.
* Antacids before meals or symptomatically after symptoms begin can increase the pH and reduce gastric acidity. Alginic acid may coat the mucosa as well as increase the pH and decrease reflux.
* Gastric H2 receptor blockers such as ranitidine or famotidine can reduce gastric secretion of acid. These drugs are technically antihistamines.
* Proton pump inhibitors such as omeprazole are the effective in reducing gastric acid secretion, as they stop the secretion of acid at the source of acid production, i.e. the proton pump.
Acid Reflux Surgical treatment:
The standard surgical treatment, sometimes preferred over longtime use of medication, is the Nissen fundoplication. The upper part of the stomach is wrapped around the lower esophageal sphincter to strengthen the sphincter and prevent acid reflux and to repair a hiatal hernia. The procedure is often done laparoscopically.
An obsolete treatment is vagotomy, the surgical removal of vagus nerve branches that innervate the stomach lining. This treatment has been largely replaced by medication.
Acid Reflux Natural Treatment:
Although lifestyle modifications help some acid reflux sufferers in controlling their acid reflux symptoms but for a permanent relief it is advisable to follow natural remedies and treatments.
If you are suffering with Acid Reflux or heartburn symptoms and want to get rid of your acid reflux(GERD)
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