Reflux Therapy, Possible Cancer

This over here would be the chest bone. The sternum feeling a burning sensation or pain behind this bone is referred to as heartburn, while, It might be just a mild annoyance that we all experience once in a while the gastroesophageal reflux disease is actually a major cause of this condition but there are other dangerous causes for heartburn as well and before we get to that let us explain where it all starts. The stomach, It is an organ capable of producing acid that is capable of digesting all sorts of foods meat and plants. Its walls are mainly made out of muscle tissue and that muscle tissue can contract and relax in a synchronized way besides only mixing up the content being digested. It can also help push it further down the digestive tract or it can return it back up through the esophagus in a process we usually refer to as vomiting. The acid with which this content is mixed up in the stomach is very aggressive to organic tissues the major reason why stomach can survive and contain this acid inside of itself is because it protects its walls with a pre-epithelial protection. This pre-epithelial protection is made up by the mucous bicarbonate barrier mucous and bicarbonate secreted by mucous cells create a ph gradient maintaining the epithelial cell surface at the neutral ph value. In more simple terms, They are capable of reducing the acidity on the surface inside of the stomach, but, What about this organ over here, The Esophagus. This organ is normally not supposed to be exposed to all the acid that is in the stomach at the junction of the esophagus and stomach. There is a circular muscle called the lower esophageal sphincter and it helps close this opening and therefore it prevents the acid from the stomach going upwards into the esophagus because of that sphincter you can lay down in your bed at night and you can be sure that the acid will not leave your stomach and end up in your throat or your mouth, but, If somehow that actually does happen and the acid does leave the stomach and ends up in your esophagus you might experience heartburn. You might even feel sour acidic taste in your mouth or pieces of food you ate. Ultimately, You might even feel pain in the stomach area the epigastric pain, but, What causes this and what can be done about it. Before i explain this i have to ask you something you see youtube and other websites will only promote our video or suggest our video to other people suffering from gastroeso esophageal reflux disease. If we get enough of likes and subscriptions that’s just how their algorithms work and we notice that the videos that don’t get enough of likes usually are not suggested to the audience. So, You can help us, Help other people by liking this video or subscribing. But, now back to the heartburn. I pretty much explained that the gastroesophageal reflux diseases. When the content of the stomach can get into the esophagus primarily the acidic content of the stomach. But, What about the pathophysiology and how does that happen. If there is a narrowing here at the exit of the stomach and the food cannot leave the stomach easily then that might cause this reflux into the esophagus. But, That is not the only cause of the gastroesophageal reflux disease pregnancy and obesity can also cause it. But, Primarily it is the insufficiency of the lower esophageal sphincter that causes the gastroesophageal reflux disease as you can see there are different and many causes for gastroesophageal reflux disease. There are also different types and consequences of this condition diagnosing it properly can be tricky and conducting. Just one clinical test is not enough. There is a set of clinical examinations and tests which have to be performed in order to properly diagnose gastroesophageal reflux disease. Luckily, However if the patient experiences these specific symptoms, I have described and there are no red flags or something like that which might indicate that there is some malignant or cancerous condition then, Even before these diagnostics are performed a therapy with medication can be started normally. We are working with proton pump inhibitors or h2 receptor blockers also with antacids the proton pump inhibitors and h2 receptor blockers are basically limiting the acid production capabilities of the stomach. That means, that less acid is released into the stomach then antacids. However, Work on neutralizing the acid that was already produced one other type of medication called sucral fate is binding to the proteins in the pre-epithelial protection of the stomach and that way it reinforces this protective layer. So, You can see that the mechanism through which these drugs help are somewhat different actually quite different, So, The patient was taking one type of medication and it didn’t help well. Maybe, additional medication might help because they work differently but also the first medication that was taken in the first place was maybe simply taken at a wrong time in a wrong situation. The antacids neutralize the acid of the stomach right away but their effects fade quite quickly proton pump inhibitors require some time till they kick in but their effects are stronger and they last longer. That is however if the medication is taken properly we have to consider when and how in what situation and in what combination It is taken. So, Just taking one pill might not help. The therapy for a gastroesophageal reflux disease has to be planned in order to avoid further frustration and suffering for the patient. So, I explained two major problems especially for patients but also untrained clinicians and those were the diagnostics and therapeutic issues with the gastroesophageal reflux disease. At the end, I want to explain the third problem and that is the red flags. Red flags that might indicate a presence of a cancerous malignant disease. These red flags include loss of body weight, anemia and difficulty swallowing. They should never be ignored. If a patient reports such symptoms, Additional diagnostics are a must. Doctors and patients, We have something for you. If you’re a doctor and you want to make videos like these then go to anatomsky.com but if you have more questions about heartburn or gastroesophageal reflux disease then go to symtomsky.com/help/gerd.