What is GERD?

Gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD occurs when the acidic gastric juices
from the stomach flow up into the esophagus. As these juices are allowed to flow into and irritate the lining of the esophagus, a burning
sensation is felt in the lower chest. If these symptoms of heartburn are not controlled with modifications in lifestyle, and
over-the-counter medicines are needed two or more times a week, you should see your physician. When GERD is not treated, serious
complications can occur, such as severe chest pain that can mimic a heart attack, esophageal stricture (the narrowing of the esophagus),
bleeding, or a pre-cancerous change in the lining of the esophagus known as Barrett’s Esophagus.

What are the causes of GERD?

One possible GERD cause is the weakness of the muscle at the base of the
esophagus that connects and controls the flow of food in to the stomach, known as the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). As food travels down
the esophagus, the sphincter opens to let food flow into the stomach. Normally it closes as soon as the food enters the stomach. With
heartburn, the sphincter does not close tightly. This allows stomach acid to flow back up into the esophagus (often called acid reflux),
causing a burning sensation.

Other causes include excess acid production and other diseases that interfere
with food passing through the esophagus.

GERD Symptoms

Frequent heartburn is the most common GERD symptom. However, patients may also
experience some of the following:

sour or bitter taste

bitter stomach fluid coming into the mouth, especially during sleep

hoarseness

repeatedly feeling a need to clear the throat

difficulty swallowing food or liquid

wheezing or coughing at night

worsening of symptoms after eating, or when bending over or lying down

Diagnosing GERD

Diagnostic tests for GERD may include:

Upper GI Series-a series of x-rays of the upper digestive system taken
after drinking a barium solution
24-hour pH Monitoring-a probe placed in the esophagus to keep track of the level of acidity in the lower esophagus. This is done
over a 24-hour period.
Manometry-measures muscle pressures of the lower esophagus (LES)
Endoscopy-looking at the esophagus and stomach through a thin, lighted flexible tube that is passed down the throat
Biopsy-removing a small sample of esophageal tissue to measure the amount of acid or pressure in the esophagus

GERD Complications

Heartburn can feel like the pain associated with a heart attack. Never assume
that chest pain is heartburn or indigestion. Seek medical care if you’re not sure.

Complications occur when GERD is severe or long-standing. Constant irritation of
the esophagus by stomach acid can lead to inflammation, ulcers, and bleeding. Anemia or low blood count may develop. Over time, scarring and
narrowing of the esophagus can also develop, making it difficult to swallow and pass food through the esophagus. This narrowing is called a
stricture.

Some patients develop a condition called Barrett’s Esophagus, which is a serious
change in the cells lining the esophagus. Barrett’s Esophagus may be a precursor of esophageal cancer.

GERD Prevention

Certain diet and lifestyle choices can contribute to the condition. For example,
certain foods increase acid production, and fatty foods increase the time food remains in the stomach. Chocolate, peppermint, coffee,
alcoholic beverages, and especially nicotine in cigarette smoke weaken or relax the LES. Obesity places added pressure on the upper abdomen,
and during pregnancy the LES weakens for unknown reasons.

GERD Treatment

When symptoms of heartburn are not controlled with modifications in lifestyle,
and over-the-counter medicines are needed two or more times a week, or symptoms remain unresolved on the medication you are taking, you
should consult your physician.

Treatment should be designed to: 1) eliminate symptoms; 2) heal esophagitis;
and 3) prevent the relapse of esophagitis or development of complications in patients with esophagitis.

In many patients, GERD is a chronic, relapsing disease. The goals of long-term
maintenance are to control the symptoms and prevent complications. Maintenance therapy will vary in individuals ranging from basic lifestyle

modifications to prescription medication as treatment.

Lifestyle Modification

In order to decrease the amount of gastric contents that reach the lower

esophagus, certain simple guidelines should be followed:

Raise the Head of the Bed or use under-mattress foam wedge to elevate the head

about 6-10 inches. Pillows are not an effective alternative for elevating the head in preventing reflux.
Change Eating and Sleeping Habits. Avoid lying down for two hours after eating. Do not eat for at least two hours before bedtime. This

decreases the amount of stomach acid available for reflux.
Reduce your weight if obesity contributes to the problem.
Change Your Diet. Avoid foods and medications that lower LES tone (fats and chocolate) and foods that may irritate the damaged lining of

the esophagus (citrus juice, tomato juice, and probably pepper).
Avoid Habits That Contribute to GERD. Both smoking and the use of alcoholic beverages lower LES pressure, which contributes to acid

reflux.
Avoid foods and beverages that contribute to heartburn: chocolate, coffee, peppermint, greasy or spicy foods, tomato products and

alcoholic beverages.
Stop smoking. Tobacco inhibits saliva, which is the body’s major buffer. Tobacco may also stimulate stomach acid production and relax the

muscle between the esophagus and the stomach, permitting acid reflux to occur.

The goal of each treatment is to decrease the amount of acidic stomach fluid

leaking back into the esophagus or make that fluid less irritating to the lining of the esophagus.

GERD Diet

Your doctor may recommend avoiding:

caffeine
chocolate and peppermint
spicy and/or tomato-based foods like pizza, wings, sausages
fruits from the citrus family like oranges and tomatoes
fried and fatty foods
peppermint and spearmint
whole milk
cold cuts, bacon, fatty meat, chicken skin
cream-based soups

Medical Treatment of GERD

GERD has a physical cause, and frequently is not curtailed by these lifestyle factors alone. If you are using
over-the-counter medications two or more times a week, or are still having symptoms on the prescription or other medicines you are taking,
you need to see your doctor. If results are not forthcoming, medications may be used to neutralize acid, increase LES tone, or improve
gastric emptying. Promotility Agents increase lower esophageal sphincter pressure, which helps prevent acid reflux, and improves the movement
of food from the stomach. H2 blockers and Proton Pump lnhibitors decrease the flow of stomach acid.

Beth Guida is an author for e-Healthcare Solutions, Inc. in Ewing, NJ.

Tags: diet, Heart, obesity, sleep, smoking

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Having surgery can be scary experience, especially if you are having it for the first time. One way to make it seem a little less scary is to get all the facts ahead of time and find out exactly what you are in for. By this I mean not only what the actual surgery will be and what symptoms It’s expected to alleviate but also what you can expect before the surgery and in recovery afterwards both in the hospital and at home.

Preparing For Surgery

Once you know that you are going to have surgery, it’s in your best interest to prepare your body for the most expedient recovery possible. This means that, if you do smoke, you should stop smoking immediately. You should also start eating a healthy diet with lots of raw organic fruits and vegetables try to stay away from that red meats and desserts any added an antioxidant multivitamin to your daily routine. This will help build up your immune system and will help to give you an easier recovery as well as help your body resist infection from the surgery.

Review all your medicines with your doctor so that he or she can tell you if you should keep taking them or not before your operation. Some medicines like blood thinners will need to be tapered off before your surgery. In some cases your doctor may prescribe new medicines that who want you to start taking prior to the surgery.

Surgery Day

You’ll probably get instructions from the hospital telling you what to do and most likely that will include not eating after midnight and the time schedule like you need to show up for before your surgery.

Wear comfortable clothing and leave your jewelry and valuable items at home. You probably be spending a lot of time filling out forms and don’t forget to bring insurance card.

Shortly before your operation you be taken down to preop where any number of things may happen. Typically, you will be asked to put on special down and Catherine and to remove jewelry, contacts, hear pieces, hearing aids, dentures, barrettes and even to remove your nail polish. You may be given a laxative or enema and your body will be shaved at the site of the surgery. You may be given an IV line to help administer fluids during and after the surgery. A catheter may be put into drain your urine. Finally, you will be wheeled into a semiprivate area where you’ll wait until the operating room and surgical team is ready to begin.

The Operating Room

you probably won’t remember too much about the operating room since you will be given anesthesia as soon as you get in there. You will be moved to the operating table and hooked up to monitors. If you’re getting general anesthesia you’ll be unconscious and you won’t know anything more until you wake up in the recovery room. If you’re only getting local anesthesia then you will in effect be awake for the whole thing, but you may be given a pill to relax you and keep you’re anxiety down.

Recovery

After surgery you’ll be moved into recovery area, depending on how severe your surgery was you could be in ICU with one nurse looking over you or in a less intense area where your nurse has many patients. Depending on how you cut recovery progresses you may only be there for an hour or you could be there for days after which you be moved to a regular room

Expect to feel very weak after your operation for the first couple of days. The nurses will try to get you up and around as soon as possible to its eat your recovery. although you may not want to, the sooner you start moving around the sooner you will recover and be able to get out of the hospital.

At Home

When you are released from the hospital, it may feel like you’re getting out of jail but you still may be a little weak and in some pain. Follow your doctor’s instructions and take the pills he prescribes and you will find that each day you get stronger and feel better.

Lee Dobbins writes for surgery.health-g8way.com surgery.health-g8way.com where you can learn more about different types of surgery as well as

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When it comes to losing weight the first thing a person should be looking at doing is setting up a good healthy weight loss plan. Through such a plan you will be able to realistically balance what you hope to achieve through it and ensure that you remain fit and healthy as well. Unfortunately a lot of people will choose a weight loss plan because they have seen it advertised on TV or someone they know has used it and it has worked for them. But the problem is we are all different and where one plan may work for one person it may not actually work for another. Below we provide some advice when it comes to setting up your own healthy weight loss plan.

1. You need to remain motivated
The biggest obstacle faced by all people who decide that they want to lose weight is that they lose motivation as soon as they realize that the weight is not being lost as quickly as they thought. Therefore when devising your weight loss plan it is important that you write down the reasons as to why you want to lose the weight in the first place and refer back to them as soon as you start to feel that you can not be bothered to carry on with the plan that you have devised for yourself.

2. Forget about the weight loss
Rather than focusing on losing the weight you should be focusing more on getting fit and healthy. Certainly look at your plan as a way of improving your life and set yourself particular goals each week that can help you to remain on track. Therefore by focusing more on your health rather than the weight loss you will find that you are better able to cope with those times when you see no changes in your weight.

3. Get plenty of exercise
Generally for any plan to work you need to be taking some form of regular exercise each day. You should be aiming to be doing around 20 to 30 minutes each day. You do not actually have to go to the gym in order to achieve this just going for a walk or jog is sufficient as long as you do around 20 to 30 minutes each day. What is important that you increase the amount of exercise that you are doing each day. If you do not find that you have to time to go for a walk during the day then why not change your routine when you are going to work each day. In future why not get an earlier bus or train to work and then get off a couple of stops earlier than you would normally do and walk the rest of the way to the office.

Above we have provided you with some useful tips when it comes to healthy weight loss. Certainly through these you will find that you can lose weight more effectively and efficiently than through the use of any kind of fad diets that are being touted today.

Get learnaboutweightloss.com/index.php/2007/05/13/8-great-tips-for-long-term-weight-loss/ 8 great tips for long term weight loss and claim your learnaboutweightloss.com/join.html free weight loss newsletter.

Tags: diet, lose weight, weight Loss

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I often get asked what supplements are best for fat loss. My answer to this question isn’t a fat burner, protein, or creatine. The answer to this question in DIET. Yes, diet. People usually look confused after hearing my answer. They expect to hear “XYZ fat burner” or “XYZ protein”. Well the truth is that supplements need to be incorporated into an overall diet program. They should be intertwined to create a comprehensive nutrition program. Basically, supplements make your diet easier to maintain on an everyday basis. However, there are three supplements that should be at the top of your shopping list when dieting to lose body fat. They are, in order of importance, Meal Replacements, Whey Protein and Thermogenic Fat Burners.

Meal Replacements are meant to do exactly what their name suggests, they replace your meals. When your trying to lose body fat, you should be eating at least 5-6 meals a day. Two to Three of these meals could be meal replacements. So you would use two meal replacements and eat four solid food meals or you could use three meal replacements and eat three solid food meals. Basically use the Meal Replacements at your convenience to mold your nutrition program to your schedule. Some meal replacements that I like are AST’s Nytro-pro 40, Dymatize Advantage Matrix or Labrada Lean Body. All of these taste great and are very high quality. My personal favorite is the Nytropro, but they will all work great!

Whey Protein is a great supplement for losing body fat because it helps maintain and build lean mass, which will in turn keep your metabolism running at a high level. This will make it easier for you to burn off excess body fat. The best way to use Whey Protein is to take a whey protein shake post workout, and before bed. The serving size depends on your body weight. Two scoops or approximately 40 grams would be good for a man, One scoop or about 20 grams would be good for a woman ( these are very general recommendations, adjust the serving size appropriately). These shakes would be considered “meals” in a diet program calling for 5-6 meals. Some protein brands that I like are AST’s VP2 (fruit punch is awesome), Dymatize Elite Whey (Chocolate Mint flavor is the best tasting protein I have ever tried. EVER!) and Natures Best Isopure is a great protein also.

Lastly, a thermogenic fat burner can greatly increase fat loss results. When added to a solid diet and exercise program, fat burners can make a huge difference in the amount of fat lost. They are formulated to slightly increase your metabolism over the course of the day, resulting in a large amount of calories burned over time. These products should only be added if you are following a sound diet, otherwise the results will be minimal. Some great thermogenic fat burners are Nutrex Lipo-6, Isotori Lean System 7 and BSN Thermonex.

By adding these three different kinds of supplements into your diet and exercise program the pounds will be melting off in no time. Remember, no one supplement is the answer. By using the proper supplements together is how you achieve optimal results. Remember this: DIET EXERCISE SUPPLEMENTS = RESULTS. I guarantee that if any part of this formula is missing, the desired results will be less than optimal. So stick with the formula, and you’ll be happy in the end.

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