I had quite a good weekend regarding acid reflux. That is I did not have any. It changed through the week though and I suffered for about 2 days before I had it under control. One way of doing this was to eat very little and drink lots of water. I could not eat anyway as it hurt too much.
Anyway I was reading some information Yesterday which was about a new procedure for heartburn. It does not involve any surgery and after it,s implementation 92% of the patients studied did not have to take their daily dose of acid reflux medication.
It is called EsophyX and is a device that enables doctors to mould a new valve inside the body using a small section of the stomach tissue which forms a flap valve to prevent the backflow of gastric juices (acid reflux) into the esophagus.
The procedure is done under general anesthetic, but the good news is that it involves no abdominal or internal incisions; the EsophyX device is used to perform endoluminal fundoplication (ELF). It involves going through the mouth to deliver fasteners in the stomach that create the flap valve at the junction of the stomach and the esophagus.
Patients who suffer acid reflux disease have usually lost the flap valve or the muscle is stretched and slack allowing the acid to reflux back into the esophagus.
This new procedure reduces Hiatal hernia, restores the correct angle where the esophagus enters the stomach and creates an astroesophageal valve.
The procedure only takes about 30 minutes and the results are similar to traditional surgery but do not carry the same risk of side effects, which can produce difficulty swallowing, persistent diarrhoea and bloating.
conventional medicine does not get to the root cause of the disease but this method can stop acid reflux by restoring the flap val;ve.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Thursday, April 26, 2007
heartburn medication
Well I am back on my 10mg of acid reflux medication and guess what? I am again suffering heartburn. I am having to take antacids to supplement my normal acid reflux medication.
The trouble with antacids is that the effects only last a short time and you have to take more. This is fine if you only have minor heartburn symptoms on an infrequent basis. But keep in mind that antacids will not cure your heartburn and once you stop taking them the heartburn will usually return.
When you have acid reflux disease you are constantly producing acid and you would be taking antacids about once an hour to keep the symptoms at bay, but taking antacids on a regular basis has side effects.
Antacids are still the mainstay for fighting acid reflux despite the development of more potent medications. The thing with antacids is that they can be bought over the counter, and in some ways this is a good thing but in others it may be a problem in that you miss getting a proper diagnosis from your doctor.
Antacids are usually aluminium, magnesium or calcium based which can have different side effects. Because they neutralize the acid for a while but when the effects wear off the stomach tries to produce more acid called acid rebound which results in the overproduction of acid.
Aluminium based antacids tend to cause constipation, while magnesium based ones tent to cause diarrhea.
Another problem is that antacids may interfere with the absorption of other medication from the digestive system into the blood, so there should be a gap of about two hours between taking antacids and other medication. It may also impede the proper digestion and assimilation of food.
The trouble with antacids is that the effects only last a short time and you have to take more. This is fine if you only have minor heartburn symptoms on an infrequent basis. But keep in mind that antacids will not cure your heartburn and once you stop taking them the heartburn will usually return.
When you have acid reflux disease you are constantly producing acid and you would be taking antacids about once an hour to keep the symptoms at bay, but taking antacids on a regular basis has side effects.
Antacids are still the mainstay for fighting acid reflux despite the development of more potent medications. The thing with antacids is that they can be bought over the counter, and in some ways this is a good thing but in others it may be a problem in that you miss getting a proper diagnosis from your doctor.
Antacids are usually aluminium, magnesium or calcium based which can have different side effects. Because they neutralize the acid for a while but when the effects wear off the stomach tries to produce more acid called acid rebound which results in the overproduction of acid.
Aluminium based antacids tend to cause constipation, while magnesium based ones tent to cause diarrhea.
Another problem is that antacids may interfere with the absorption of other medication from the digestive system into the blood, so there should be a gap of about two hours between taking antacids and other medication. It may also impede the proper digestion and assimilation of food.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
