What
is GERD? About 45% of American population
get acid reflux once in awhile. About 10% has a acid reflux
more than once a week and they experience variety of
symptoms, like waking up at night with food or acid coming
up in mouth, waking up with coughing spells, day time food
or acid reflux, food getting stuck in esophagus while
eating.
Why
acid and food are coming back up to mouth? At the lower
end of esophagus there is valve called lower esophageal sphincter
(LES). When this LES become incompetent it fails to keep
acid and food in the stomach and therefore it comes up when
ever either gravity or pressure on stomach pushes the food
and acid back up.
In
some people there is also a component of defect in the
diaphragm through which the esophagus is passing. This is
called diaphragmatic hernia.
What
is the solution or management? The best solution is to
repair the diaphgmatic hernia and create a new valve around
the lower esophagus. Dr. Pandya does this laparoscopically
called laparoscopic antireflux surgery. For more information
click here.
There
is a new procedure called Esophyx Transoral Esophagogastric
fundoplication that also recreates the LES but is done
differently then Laparoscopic anti reflux surgery. This
slightly less effective then the Laparoscopic surgery but is
acceptable for a selected group of patients. For more
information click here.
There
are many medications sold by various pharmaceutical
companies like Nexium, Zantac, and others. These medications
work on the stomach to temporarily reduce acid production in
the stomach and provide short term relief. It does not
provide any lasting benefit and certainly does not correct
the basic defect in the LES. It may also cause harm to the
medication taker if it is taken for long time. For more
information click here.
Next
Step: If you suspect that
you or someone you know have GERD then make an
appointment with Dr. Pandya in our office by calling (559)
782 8533 or contact your doctor or go to a nearest ER for
further evaluation and management.
If
you have any question regarding GERD then call (559)
782 8533 to make an appointment with Dr. Pandya. |
