Acid stomach What helps with heartburn

Acid stomach: what helps with heartburn

07/01/2015

Millions of people in Germany suffer from heartburn. Although there are several medications that are supposed to prevent the disease, they are often ineffective. The real problems behind the complaints are not solved with the remedies. However, with the help of tips and home remedies, you can counteract heartburn well.

Millions of people suffer from heartburn
Millions of people worldwide suffer from heartburn, which is often caused by the so-called reflux disease (also referred to as reflux). The reflux of gastric contents causes typical symptoms such as sour or bitter belching, burning pain behind the sternum and a feeling of pressure in the upper abdomen. In a recent article is dedicated to „Berlin morning mail“ the topic and writes that in the US already 40 percent of all adults and in Germany, 20 percent of them are affected. As the newspaper continues to report, the widespread disease reacts less and less on medication.

Moderate success with standard therapy

According to the report, the standard therapy with so-called proton pump inhibitors, which should prevent the reflux of gastric acid into the esophagus, more and more ineffective. New York's ENT doctor Jamie Koufman has been treating people with heartburn for about 35 years: „They were probably thousands“. She used to treat patients with pump inhibitors too, as it was just as common. However, the successes were moderate and so she changed her strategy. Meanwhile, the physician animates her patients to change the lifestyle: „Because the real problem behind the heartburn is that we eat too much and then too many fats too late.“

Esophageal cancer as a possible secondary disease
The fact that the expert is right can also be deduced from a Danish study in which the effects of pump inhibitors were observed in nearly 10,000 patients suffering from Barrett's esophagus (endobrachy esophagus). It is shortening of the esophagus, which is considered a typical consequence of chronic reflux and can end in esophageal cancer. Although this process should be prevented or delayed by the drugs, they were ineffective in the study. Study Director Frederik Hvid-Jensen from Aarhus University Hospital explained:“We could not detect a tumor protection effect“. Even the opposite has been noted: Those who took pump inhibitors showed a particularly high number of dysplasias, precursors to cancer.

Medication must be taken correctly
One possible explanation for why the drugs fail is a scientist from Bavaria. For the right effect, the remedy must be taken correctly: Uninterrupted and 30 minutes before a meal. But Martin Storr of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich suspects big deficits. He means that himself „at best 50 percent of the patients“ comply with the instructions of the doctor and package leaflets. The Danish gastroenterologist Hvid-Jensen sees yet another problem: Of all those reflux patients who take a pump inhibitor, would often maintain an unhealthy lifestyle. „They are often overweight, smoke more and their diet is unhealthier“.

No meals after 7pm
Instead, Koufman often refrains from medication and instead tries to get her patients to stop eating after 7pm so the stomach contents have enough time to sink down with gravity before going into the horizontal of sleep. At dinner, less fats should also be consumed, as these provoke reflux, „by delaying the passage of food through the stomach“. Chocolate, peppermint, soft drinks and alcohol would be part of the evening strike list for the same reason, according to Koufman, many patients initially refuse to cooperate. Such as a New York businesswoman who has her doctor first „hated for two months“ before she put the proposals into action. Meanwhile, the woman is largely symptom-free.

Stop smoking minimizes the risk of heartburn
Smokers should avoid using cigarettes if they want to fight their heartburn. Nicotine weakens the sphincter function of the esophagus, which is also irritated by the tar substances of cigarette smoke. According to a Dutch study, smoking cessation doubles the chance of a reduction in reflux symptoms. As the newspaper continues, however, according to a Swedish investigation, the abandonment of coffee brings nothing at all. Accordingly, coffee, probably due to its tannins, even a certain protection against heartburn on.

Natural preventive measures
Although experts in some preventive measures are not entirely in agreement, there is no doubt that overweight and obesity should be avoided to prevent heartburn in the long term. It is clear that stress is a major cause of heartburn, and so stress relief exercises are a good way to tackle the problem. Among other things, yoga or autogenic training are suitable. Other home remedies for heartburn are methods to stimulate digestion, such as with the help of Swedish bitters or the extensive chewing of food („Fletchern“). (Ad)

Picture: Sigrid Rossmann