Health: Acid Reflux / Gastro-Esophageal Reflux / GERD

Acid Reflux is the other generally used name of Gastro-esophageal reflux disease, also more often referred as GERD. The disease causes damage to the esophagus as the acidic contents from the stomach, containing acids and pepsin, pushes back to the esophagus since the sphincter becomes weak and can no-more prevent the contents from stomach from gushing back in esophagus. The acidic contents burn the esophagus and causes irritation in the esophagus. This is a chronic disease, which has life long repercussions. The treatment in this case can only help temporarily, i.e., as well as one continues with the medication.

To diagnose Acid Reflux, one can go through gastroscopy, since the symptoms of this disease re so mild that diagnosing them is very difficult and people rather than going to the doctor stick to own medication. The very commonly used resort to escape the pains and the problems from GERD is going for an antacid. These are actually helpful in case of short-term and infrequent attacks of the disease. But these can’t provide much relief for a long time.

People can change their diets to actually eliminate or reduce the effects of Acid Reflux. A proper routine can be made to reduce the problem which generally the causes due to the irregular habits of eating or eating more junk food and also from excessive drinking. Patients also in this case maintain diaries for keeping track of what they eat and drink to keep a check on the recurrence of the attacks of Acid Reflux. And when these controlled diets also don’t help in controlling the disease then the doctors resorts to drugs to keep the disease in a controlled position.

The most popular and largely used drug for this disease is PPI (Proton Pump Inhibitors), this is the drug which is generally prescribed by the doctors for relief from the pains causing due to the attacks of Acid Reflux. The drug helps in stopping the production of the acidic contents in the stomach which pushes into esophagus and cause acid reflux. Not many side effects do these drugs have, but are really relieving at times of attacks.

The other drug primarily prescribed by the doctors all over the world is 2 Blocker, which also restores relief to the esophagus. Both these drugs have been proved to be successful drug therapy for long term acid reflux sufferers. But patients with more severe damages, who don’t respond to these drugs, are prescribed more radical drugs, with strong effects, known as Promotility agents. These drugs have sometimes adverse side effects, so these are very seldom prescribed by the doctors.