Cures For Acid Reflux Disease

Q: Is there a cure or remedy for acid reflux? what foods are best for acid reflux which are the most harmful is there a cure ? can anyone in the group help me please? I am having to put up with this at the moment and I want to get rid of it as soon as possible.

A:Acid reflux is reflux of acid from the stomach into the gullet or oesophagus. So it is important that foods that increase the acid secretion should be avoided or used in small amounts only, such as caffiene, alcohol, hot drinks, spices. But the fact is that these foods differ for different people. The patient may have to figure out which foods have bad effects on him/her. Smoking also causes a lot of problems. So does some medicines, like certain pain-killers (NSAIDs), etc. There are other factors too, like obesity, lying down right after dinner, with the head at the same or lower level as that of the chest. These push the acid backwards from the stomach. There is a cure. Loads of people have the disease. Medicines that reduce acid release are best; antacids, H2Antagonists (example is Ranitidine),

PPIs (like Omerprazole), etc. Then there is surgery. If the part of oesophagus that joins the stomach is too large and unable to stop the reflux at all, then surgeons tighten it up. Sometimes the cause of reflux is a condition of hernia: that is, a part of stomach gets pushed from its normal position in the abdomen to the chest. So the reflux goes on and on. Surgeons fix that if there is a need. Other things that the patient should do on his/her own are; eating sometime before its time for bed and walking before going to bed (so that the food passes down the stomach before it is time to lie down), keeping the head higher in sleep, avoid foods that worsen the symptoms, especially smoking.