The acid that is secreted by the parietal cells in the human stomach play a couple of very important roles.  First off, it helps to break down proteins so that nutrients are more available in the intestines and easily absorbed.  Stomach acid is important for calcium absorption, among other nutrients.

Stomach acid is also an important part of the immune system of the digestive tract.  Acid kills many of the organisms that we are commonly exposed to and helps to prevent infection.

Over the counter and prescription medications used to treat heartburn or GERD focus on reducing stomach acid production.  As I mentioned in the previous post, stomach acid is not the cause of heartburn - it is caused by a loose lower esophageal sphincter.

Consistent with the physiological importance of stomach acid, recent medical research indicates that medications that lower stomach acidity are associated with an increased risk of infection (gastrointestinal and pneumonia!) and osteoporosis.  Another of the known adverse effects of these medications is hair loss - treated naturopathically with specific nutrients.

The natural treatment of GERD involves identification and avoidance of aggravating foods and herbal and nutritional recommendations that soothe and protect the esophagus while improving gastrointestinal function.  Discontinuance of acid lowering medication and WITHOUT GERD symptoms is a real possibility for many patients.

Be Well,

Richard

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Tonight I saw the movie Julie & Julia. Eric, Julie’s husband, explains that he has a hyperacidic stomach while taking some Tums. Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome is a rare but serious medical condition that is caused by a hormone secreting tumor that triggers secretion of damaging amounts of stomach acid . Eric instead probably had recurrent heartburn, or GERD.

GERD is NOT caused by too much stomach acid; it’s caused by a loose valve that seperates the bottom of the esophagus from the stomach. This valve is called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). Certain foods commonly cause the LES to relax and are triggers for GERD symptoms: fatty foods, alcohol, caffeine, onions, garlic, mint, and tomatoes to name a few.

So, heartburn is not caused by too much stomach acid. It is caused when the contents of an appropriately acidic stomach move into the esophagus.

In an upcoming post, I’ll discuss surprising adverse effect from acid reducing medications.

Be well,
Richard

RSS makes it easy to subscribe to the Simply Well blog - just add the feed address (feed://maliknd.com/simply_well/?feed=rss2) to your RSS reader (your email program) and get updates automatically.

The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) produced clinical guidelines for the management of Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) in October of 2008 that advise against using endoscopy for the screening of patients with GERD.

The Bottom Line:

If you have GERD and your symptoms are addressed with treatment recommendations, an endoscopy is not helpful in improving health outcomes.  If symptoms persist in spite of treatment, an endoscopy or further testing may be a good idea.  In this case, you should speak to your doctor.  Fortunately, most people’s symptoms are relieved with medical or natural therapies.