Natural Heartburn Remedies

Relieving Your Heartburn Naturally Without Taking Medicine

Acid Reflux And Hiatus Hernia

Recently, I came across an interesting article in Daily Mail UK which I want to share with you. A  reader asked an interesting question which Dr Martin Scurr provided an excellent answer.  Read all about it.

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Question: I was recently diagnosed with patulous gastroesophageal junction, but my doctor didn’t explain what this is  -  he suggested it might be a hernia of some kind. I am taking the acid-suppressant Zoton.  While this eases indigestion, it’s done nothing to get rid of the acid that rises up and the continual feeling of having a lump in my throat. Can you shed some light on this vague diagnosis? – Mrs C. Williams, Derby.

Dr Scurr says… The oesophagus, or food pipe, is the muscular tube linking your throat to your stomach.

It passes through a sheet of muscle called the diaphragm and thickens to form a valve  -  the gastroesophageal junction  -  just where your breastbone ends at the top of your stomach.

What your doctor is telling you is that this valve is not working properly  -  ‘patulous’ means hanging open.

This means that your stomach contents  -  including the acid that helps digest the food we eat  -  spill back up into the oesophagus, causing a variety of symptoms including heartburn, cramp-like pain due to spasm, cough and often a sensation of having a lump in the throat  -  this is due to the swallowing mechanism becoming irritated.

In some people, the muscle of the diaphragm also becomes slack, usually due to obesity and the unfitness of middle age. This allows the stomach to move up into the chest  -  known as a sliding hiatus hernia.

This is why your doctor is saying that, in addition to the reflux, you might also have this condition, as your symptoms are persisting despite acid suppressant treatment.

Bear in mind you can experience reflux without a hiatus hernia, and vice versa, though the two often co-exist.

Simple measures that easily get forgotten include weight loss (excess weight pushes the stomach up through the diaphragm) and quitting smoking.

Smoking puts chemicals into the blood that lower the strength of the gastroesophageal valve while stimulating acid production in the stomach, effectively opposing the benefit of the Zoton. Alcohol, tea and coffee appear to make matters worse.

Try tilting the head of your bed by putting a brick under each leg: this helps to prevent the acid rising back up your oesophagus during the night.

If none of these measures helps, speak to your doctor about increasing the dose of Zoton if you are not yet on the top dose of 60mg.

If you are, seek specialist advice about the feasibility of anti-reflux surgery  -  you may be one of the few to benefit from it.

[Source: Daily Mail UK]

If you are interested to cure your heartburn naturally without taking any medication, you will like to check this out:

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