Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease
Ways That you Must Follow in Order to Treat the Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease
A person that has Heartburn symptoms should visit the doctor as soon as possible. The treatment may involve lifestyle changes, medication, and even surgery.
As lifestyle changes, you should stop smoking and drinking alcohol, eat small meals, lose weight if necessary, avoid lying down for 3 hours after a meal, and wear loose-fitting clothes.
As medications, Antacids are the most usually prescribed to Relieve Heartburn. There can be named a few drugs, like Maalox, Mylanta, Alka-Seltzer, Pepto-Bismol, Rolaids, and Riopan. This drugs usually use different combinations of magnesium, calcium, and aluminum with hydroxide or bicarbonate ions to neutralize the acid in your stomach.
Antacids are known for having side-effects. Aluminum salts can cause constipation, magnesium salt can lead to diarrhea, calcium carbonate antacids can cause constipation also.
H2 blockers, like cimetidine, famotidine, ranitidine and nizatidine are being used to impede acid production. They provide short-term relief but shouldn’t be used for more than a few weeks at a time.
There are also proton pump inhibitors, which are more effective than H2 blockers, and this cathegory includes omeprazole, rabeprazole, esomeprazole, lansoprazole and pantoprazole.
Some drugs that strengthen the sphincter and make the stomach empty faster are the prokinetics. We can mention here bethanechol and metoclopramide. These drugs have frequent side- effects, so they are not too often prescribed.
Sometimes, a combination between drugs is needed, for better controlling the symptoms, but you should ask for the doctor’s advice, only he or she can tell which combination is suitable.
More tests are needed, if a patient doesn’t feel better after medications and lifestyle changes. For example, a barium swallow radiograph should be done. You drink a solution, and x-rays are taken, and the doctor will see if there are abnormalities such as severe inflammation of the esophagus or a hiatal hernia.
Another test is the upper endoscopy, which is more accurate than the test described before. A flexible plastic tube called an endoscope is slided down the throat, and a tiny camera which is in the endoscope allows the doctor to see if there are abnormalities.
The doctor may also want to perform biopsy, and in this case, a small piece of tissue will be removed with the help of some tiny tweezers in the endoscope.
There exists also an ambulatory pH examination, and in this case, the doctor puts a tube into the esophagus, that will stay there for 24 hours. It measures when and how much acid comes up into your esophagus, while you are having your normal activities.
When medicine and lifestyle changes do not work, surgery is an option that must be taken in consideration.
Fundoplication is a method in which the upper part of the stomach is wrapped around the lower esophageal sphincter to strengthen the sphincter, repair a hiatal hernia and to prevent Acid Reflux.This procedure requires a laparoscope and tiny incisions in the abdomen, and it is safely and effective in people of all ages.
In the US, were approved two endoscopic devices to treat Chronic Heartburn. The Stretta system uses electrodes to create tiny cuts on the lower esophageal sphincter, and when the cuts heal, the scar tissue helps toughen the muscle. The Bard EndoCinch system puts stitches in the lower esophageal sphincter to create little pleats that help strengthen the muscle.
Recently, an implant was approved. It is called Enteryx, it is a solution that is injected during endoscopy, becomes spongy and reinforces the the lower esophageal sphincter to keep Stomach Acid from flowing into the esophagus.
It is important to know that you may have Gastroesophageal Reflux disease without having heartburn, children and infants may experience repeated vomiting, coughing and other respiratory problems as a result of the Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.
Doctors recommend lifestyle and dietary changes to relieve heartburn, sometimes medication is necessary, or even surgery.
For more resources about acid reflux or especially about natural Cures For Acid Reflux please click this link http://www.acid-reflux-info-guide.com/natural-cures-for-acid-reflux.htm
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For more resources about acid reflux or especially about Natural Cures For Acid Reflux please click this link http://www.acid-reflux-info-guide.com/natural-cures-for-acid-reflux.htm
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