Monday, April 16, 2012

A Look Into The Symptoms of Acid Reflux

As you may know, acid reflux currently affects people all over the world. Even though there are so many people out there that suffer from this problem, there are even more people that do not know the symptoms of acid reflux.

When studying its symptoms, you will find that the symptoms in adults are totally different than the symptoms in infants and children.

In adults, you will find that heartburn is the symptom that mainly classifies a present of acid in the esophagus.

The heartburn is also characterized by a discomfort that is labeled with burning which sets in behind the breastbone commonly referred to as the sternum in the medical field.There are also many different findings in acid reflux as well which includes esophagitis which is also known as reflux esophagitis, there are also findings of inflammatory changes that take place in the mucosa which is referred to as the esophageal lining.

Other findings that you should know about is strictures which is when there is a presence of difficulty swallowing also know as dysphasia and there is also another finding known as chronic chest pain. There are patients that are suffering from acid reflux that only have one of the findings that are listed here.

When studying about acid reflux, you should know that there are also other typical GERD symptoms as well that you should know about that include coughing and hoarseness along with voice changes and chronic ear ache. Other typical symptoms are burning chest pains and sinusitis along with nausea.

 Like any other illness, acid reflux also has complications as well such as stricture formation and Barrett's esophagus not to mention esophageal ulcers and maybe even esophageal cancer which is typical in adults that are older than sixty years old. When it comes to infants and children having acid reflux, there are some differences present. When children have acid reflux their symptoms include vomiting and coughing as well as effortless spitting up and different types of respiratory problems.

There are also other symptoms as well that you should take note of such as inconsolable crying and bad breath accompanied by belching as well as refusing foods. In children, you will also find that a child can show one sign or many different signs so you need to make sure that you take note of everything if you think that your child may be suffering from acid reflux.

In the United States each year there are eight million babies that are born and out of those there are thirty five percent of them that are going to have difficulty with acid reflux in the first couple months of their life. Keep in mind though that most of the children that have acid reflux will out grow it by their first birthday.

Although there is a difference between the acid reflux treatments for adults and children, I am going to tell you about the acid reflux treatments that are available for adults. When it comes to acid reflux being treated by drug treatment, there are several different drugs that your doctor may take into consideration like proton pump inhibitors, antacids and also alginic acid.

The acid reflux treatment using proton pump inhibitors are known to be the most effective when it comes to reducing the gastric acid secretion. Antacids used as an acid reflux treatment are normally taken before meals or at the time that the symptoms are occurring. Alginic Acid also known as Gaviscon used as an acid reflux treatment is known to coat the mucosa and also increase the pH levels and also decrease the reflux.

The purpose of this article is to inform you about the diagnosis of acid reflux and to also tell you about some of the natural remedy for acid reflux that is available for you to take into consideration. When it comes to giving a diagnosis of acid reflux it is very important that the physician has a very detailed history about the patient because it plays a vital role in the actual diagnosis.

There are many different investigations that have proven to be useful which include the barium swallow x-ray as well as the esophageal manometry and the twenty four hour pH monitoring. There is also an investigation known as the esophagogastroduodenoscopy that can also be done as well which is normally done at the point and time that the physician sees that the patient is not responding well to treatment or at the time that symptoms that are known as alarms such as dysphasia and anemia as well as blood in the stool occur. Now that you know some of the investigations that are done at the time that a diagnosis of acid reflux is made or is about to be made, it's time to learn about the natural remedies out there for acid reflux.

One natural remedy for acid reflux is spring water. Although there have been statements made that chlorine water can cause acid reflux, there are some people that have said that chlorine free spring water has gotten rid of their acid reflux symptoms. Another natural remedy for acid reflux that you may want to take into consideration is consuming a quality yogurt at different times within the day and accompanying it with two of the acidophilus capsules which are also known as bifodophilus capsules that have a high bacteria count.

Please note that if you choose to use this natural remedy for acid reflux that you may not notice the improvements at first however over a period of time you will see that things are getting better. Now that you know a couple of the natural remedies for acid reflux maybe you can get some relief however please note that there are other natural remedies as well that you can also try.
 
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