PT Health Life – Gastroesophageal reflux is a common digestive disease and is increasingly trending in Vietnam. The disease not only affects health but also causes many inconveniences in daily life.
To date, there is no method to completely cure gastroesophageal reflux disease , but it can be controlled very well if the treatment regimen is followed properly.
Gastroesophageal reflux ( GERD) is a condition in which the contents of the stomach and esophagus flow back up. This phenomenon often occurs at night in normal people.
1. Why does gastroesophageal reflux occurm?
Normally when we eat, food goes from the mouth down the throat to the esophagus, through the esophageal sphincter to the stomach. This sphincter opens to let food down and then closes. When the sphincter is always open or closed tightly, food and acid from the stomach reflux into the esophagus and pharynx, causing damage to the mucosa and creating a burning feeling in the chest, spreading to the neck with heartburn . hoarseness, sore throat…
2. Signs of gastroesophageal reflux disease
Most patients who come to the doctor have many symptoms such as burning in the front of the chest, epigastric pain, belching… However, gastroesophageal reflux has very diverse manifestations.
Therefore, when the following symptoms occur more than twice a week, the patient needs to think that he or she may have gastroesophageal reflux and should see a specialist for timely examination and treatment.
– Heartburn is the most typical symptom of the disease. It is an uncomfortable, burning feeling from the upper abdomen, spreading to the middle of the chest, sometimes spreading to the neck area, often occurring after meals.
– Symptoms of burping food into the esophagus and mouth: Usually occurs after eating sour, spicy foods, when eating a full meal, or wearing tight pants. Burping out food, heartburn, nausea, saliva flowing out of the mouth.
– Signs in other organs: Feeling of choking in the neck, persistent cough especially at night, non-cardiac chest pain, hoarseness, tooth decay, asthma. It is these symptoms that make patients mistaken for cardiovascular disease or indirectly manifest through recurring infections in the ear, nose and throat area.
3. Warning symptoms of complications
Over time, frequent acid reflux can cause esophageal ulcers. In the long term, gastroesophageal reflux disease has the risk of causing esophageal cancer, lung, throat and larynx damage that is difficult to recover from.
Warning symptoms of complications of the disease:
– Difficulty swallowing, painful swallowing (due to complications of esophageal stricture).
– Vomiting blood (due to complications occurring at the esophageal ulcer).
– Difficulty breathing at night (bronchospasm or pneumonia due to inhaling acid fluid into the lungs).
– Loss of appetite, anemia, weight loss (due to complications from esophageal cancer).
4. How to correctly diagnose gastroesophageal reflux disease?
– Patients need to fully describe the symptoms they experience.
– Doctor performs clinical examination.
– In some cases, a gastroesophageal endoscopy is indicated. During the endoscopy, a small piece of the esophagus or stomach can be biopsied.
Normally, from asking and examining the patient, doctors can make a diagnosis and prescribe a treatment regimen.
5 . Treating gastroesophageal reflux
– Change your lifestyle
- Limit drinking alcohol, quit smoking, lose weight if overweight.
- Avoid eating sour, spicy, and acidic foods such as lemons, tomatoes, coffee, chocolate, and pepper.
- Don’t eat too much.
- Do not lie down immediately or sleep 2-4 hours after eating.
- Reduce fat intake.
- Sleep with your head 10-20 cm high.
The above measures can reduce symptoms of the disease but do not replace medical treatment.
– Patients need to be examined and treated according to a specialist’s prescription, avoiding tolerance to some drugs that aggravate the symptoms of the disease: calcium channel blockers, alpha and beta blockers, theophylline, nitrates, and some sedatives, anti-inflammatory pain relievers such as aspirin, arthritis medications…
Gastroesophageal reflux is related to many different mechanisms such as lower esophageal sphincter or pressure, esophageal activity, gastric pressure… In which, the important factor is the lower esophageal sphincter. Surgical intervention is possible, but there are many other dependent factors. If esophageal motility or gastric emptying is poor, the patient may not be completely cured after surgery and still have discomfort.
In addition, favorable factors such as: obese people, people using drugs that cause reflux, habits, lifestyle, etc. can also make surgery more likely to relapse.
Therefore, most doctors always recommend that patients require medical treatment before deciding on surgery. Because if we comply with treatment, time, and medication, we can still be stable with gastroesophageal reflux medication.
Summary: Gastroesophageal reflux is a chronic disease that is increasingly common in Asian countries and tends to increase in frequency in Vietnam. The disease not only affects quality of life due to symptoms but can also cause serious complications such as esophageal ulcers, esophageal strictures and cancer although this rate is very small. Therefore, patients need to follow the doctor’s instructions. Do not stop taking the medication arbitrarily as it will easily lead to relapse.
The choice of medication will be according to the doctor’s prescription, to find a medication that is suitable for each patient without affecting overall health status and drug interactions.
Besides, you should not let yourself be stressed, you should live more comfortably and happily, sometimes gastroesophageal reflux will be less and you can live with it without much influence or complications. symptoms of the disease.
