To banish your heartburn, the main thing is to choose the correct and most effective solution for you. That means obtaining precise information about the genuine causes that are behind heartburn symptoms. Overall, there are three ways to handle heartburn: doctors’ classical treatments, surgical actions and natural/holistic cures. These methods have major differences in the way they are put in place and how they deal with different causative factors, as well as in their effects over a long duration.
When the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) between the stomach and the esophagus is in a normal state, it lets food pass one way into the stomach, but closes afterwards to stop acidic stomach contents from being pushed back the wrong way. However, when this muscle relaxes at an inopportune moment, that acid content gets back into the esophagus and causes the pain of heartburn. In this way, heartburn is the external sign 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.
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. Antacid, canceling out stomach acid by covering over the food content, and characterized by products such as Maalox, Rolaids, Mylanta and Tums.
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) which break the proton pump action that normally releases the acid in the stomach, characterized by products including 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.
The next option to drugs is surgical operation. This is designed to stop the valve opening when it should remain closed, so as to stop the flow back of gastric contents into the esophagus. The surgeon wraps the upper part of the stomach around the lower esophagus in order to reinforce the muscular valve at the junction of the esophagus and the stomach.
A patient who relies on this alone is likely to be frustrated as without the proper lifestyle or diet alterations, heartburn symptoms will probably return. Other risks associated with this solution include diarrhea, nauseous feelings, cramps in the abdomen, bloating and problems in swallowing.
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.