Acid Reflux Disease: What Is It?

Acid Reflux Disease, or GERD, or gastroesophageal reflux disease, is a condition in which liquid from the stomach backs up into the esophagus. This stomach liquid has the potential to inflame the lining of the esophagus, and in some cases may damage it.

The liquid usually consists of acid and pepsin produced by the stomach. In the case of Acid Reflux Disease, acid is the main killer of the regurgitated liquid. Pepsin and bile have a small role, but the acid from Acid Reflux Disease is the star of the show when it comes to damaging the esophagus. That's why it's the first word in this disease!

Acid Reflux Disease may last a lifetime and is labeled as a chronic condition. If there is damage to the esophagus, then you have two chronic conditions. Treatment for Acid Reflux Disease will help drastically, but MUST BE continued indefinitely.

Regurgitation of the stomach's liquid occurs just as much in those that do not suffer from Acid Reflux Disease as it does with those that do. However, the regurgitated liquid of those that do no suffer often contains more acid and resides in the esophagus much longer than those without Acid Reflux Disease.

Automatic bodily functions are constantly protecting itself from the effects of Acid Reflux Disease. When sitting up, regurgitated stomach liquid often flows back down into the stomach due to gravity. Also, while awake, humans repeatedly swallow, reflux or not. These swallows take regurgitated liquid back down into the pits of the stomach. The bicarbonated saliva also neutralizes this acid during the same process. These processes are important to prevent damage to the esophagus.

Not everyone is susceptible to Acid Reflux Disease. Certain conditions within one's body makes it easier for one to develop the disease. In pregnancy, rising hormone levels cause reflux when pressure in the lower esophagus is lowered and the growing fetus exherts pressure on the abdomen.

Both of these would increase the risk of developing Acid Reflux Disease, especially those with diseases that weaken muscles in the esophagus. They are all prone to Acid Reflux Disease.


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The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain

Dr. John Sarno caused quite a ruckus back in 1990 when he suggested that back pain is all in the head. In his bestselling book, Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection, he claimed that backaches, slipped discs, headaches, and other chronic pains are due to suppressed anger, and that once the cause of the anger is addressed, the pain will vanish. Relieved Amazon.com readers call this book "liberating" and say "it sounds too good to be true, but it is true." Sarno has returned with The Mindbody Prescription, in which he explains how emotions including guilt, anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem can stimulate the brain to manufacture physical symptoms including fibromyalgia, repetitive strain injuries, migraine headaches, hay fever, colitis, ulcers, and even acne. If these psychosomatic problems all sound a little Freudian, what with the repression of emotions in the unconscious, it's because Sarno unapologetically borrows from Freud for the basis of his theory and cites childhood trauma as a major source of emotional problems. He also says that his program is a "talking cure" of sorts, since patients must be convinced their pain is rooted in their emotions before healing can begin.
The book reads a bit like psychology text, with Sarno quoting from psychoanalytic theorists including Heinz Kohut and Graeme Taylor and the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition). Sarno walks through the neurophysiology of mindbody disorders, lists the symptoms of dozens of disorders that he believes are emotion-based, and offers a basic program for overcoming psychosomatic pain and illness. His recovery plan includes meditation and sometimes psychotherapy, including behavior modification, and stopping any medication or physical therapy. While Sarno's ideas seem radical, they were commonly implemented earlier in the 20th century, when psychoanalysis was at its peak of popularity, and they promise to become more accepted in our current era of alternative medical therapies and anger management. --Erica Jorgensen



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