Wednesday, July 1, 2015

The Cause of Acid Reflux....A Common Misconception



Ever feel a burning sensation that starts in your stomach and radiates up through your chest?  This sensation is known as acid reflux or “heartburn”, and is very common.  Acid reflux affects about 50 percent of Americans today.  Gastroesophageal reflux disease or Peptic Ulcer disease are other common terms for this condition as well. 

There is a misconception that acid reflux is cause by too much acid in your stomach, and is conventionally treated with acid-blocking medications.  This misunderstood condition adversely affects many people, as heartburn is actually caused by too little acid.

When you swallow your food, it passes through your esophagus and then into your stomach.  There is a muscular valve between your esophagus and stomach called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES).  After food reaches the stomach, the LES closes, preventing food from moving back up into the esophagus.  Acid reflux occurs when the LES relaxes inappropriately, allowing acid from your stomach to flow (reflux) backward into your esophagus. It's important to understand that acid reflux is not a disease caused by excessive acid production in your stomach; rather it's a symptom more commonly related to:
    Hiatal hernia
    Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection
Although a Hiatal hernia and H. pylori are unrelated, it is not uncommon for an individual to have both conditions simultaneously.  This can lead to chronic inflammation of the stomach lining, and can eventually result in an ulcer.  (Mercola) 
Proton pump inhibitors (PPI’s) are the most commonly prescribed drugs for heartburn and acid reflux, which designed to block acid production in the stomach.  Since stomach acid is creeping up into your esophagus when you suffer from acid reflux, it may make sense to most to block acid production in order treat it.  However, this is often the worst approach possible, since it is typically caused by too little acid production in the stomach. 
There are over 16,000 articles in the medical literature showing that suppressing stomach acid does not address the problem. It only temporarily treats the symptoms.
PPIs like Nexium, Prilosec, and Prevacid were originally designed to treat a very limited range of severe problems. According to Mitchell Katz, director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, who wrote an editorial on this topic, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are only warranted for the treatment of:
    Bleeding ulcers
    Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (a rare condition that causes your stomach to produce excess acid)
    Severe acid reflux, where an endoscopy has confirmed that your esophagus is damaged
According to Katz, "about 60 to 70 percent of people taking these drugs have mild heartburn and shouldn't be on them." Part of the problem with PPIs is that when you suppress the amount of acid in your stomach, you decrease your body's ability to kill the helicobacter bacteria. So if your heartburn is caused by an H. pylori infection, it actually makes your condition worse and perpetuates the problem. Besides that, reducing acid in your stomach diminishes your primary defense mechanism for food-borne infections, which will increase your risk of food poisoning. PPI drugs can also cause potentially serious side effects, including pneumonia, bone loss, hip fractures, and infection with Clostridium difficile (a harmful intestinal bacteria). (Katz)
There are some natural ways to treat the actual cause of acid reflux, rather than just suppress the symptoms.  Balancing and restoring the balance of bacteria in the GI tract is key.  Having an unhealthy balance of good and bad bacteria can promote overgrowth of harmful bacteria, and lead to infections, such as H. pylori.  This healthy balance is important not only for relief of acid reflux, but also for optimal gut function and long-term health as your gut flora can increase absorption of nutrients and is important for mental and physical health.  Eating a diet high in processed foods and sugars increases unhealthy bacteria, and is a breeding ground for infections such as H.pylori.  Thus, cutting out processed foods and reaching for whole food sources is the best way to achieve the proper balance.  It is also important to make sure you are consuming enough good bacteria from fermented foods, or from a probiotic supplement.  This will help to eliminate Helicobacter bacteria naturally. (Mercola)

Works Cited

Katz, MH. "Failing the acid test: benefits of proton pump inhibitors may not justify the risks for many users." Internal Medicine (2010): 747-748.

Mercola, Dr. mercola.com. 28 04 2014. 1 05 2015 <http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/04/28/acid-reflux-ulcer-treatment.aspx>.

No comments:

Post a Comment