A team of researchers at Mayo Clinic recently uncovered an interesting physician bias regarding the diagnosis of the upper digestive conditions gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and functional dyspepsia (also known as indigestion). The two conditions can overlap, but each condition has its own distinct symptoms.

The researchers uncovered a bias on the part of physicians who diagnosed the two conditions. Although the number of GERD diagnoses has increased in the last 20 years, the reported GERD symptoms have decreased. When symptoms of both conditions are present, the most common diagnosis is GERD. Further, when only symptoms of functional dyspepsia are present, diagnosis of GERD is still more likely.

I believe this is due to the influence of the pharmaceutical industry over doctors when it comes to treating upper GI conditions with proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs), among the most commonly prescribed drugs today. Proton pump inhibitors were first used to treat peptic ulcers until it was discovered that peptic ulcers are not the result of too much stomach acid, but instead the result of infection with a bacterium known as Helicobacter pylori. Without a condition to treat, the focus of these drugs was turned to heartburn. Thus began widespread belief that heartburn was simply the result of too much stomach acid. To the rescue: Proton pump inhibitors and acid blockers.

As the Mayo Clinic study shows, functional dyspepsia is also now transitioning into a category in which proton pump inhibitors come to the rescue. But PPIs are not FDA approved to treat functional dyspepsia. Instead, doctors are seeing its symptoms—incomplete digestion, bloating, belching, excessive fullness, delayed stomach emptying—as those of GERD, a condition for which they have a well-known drug to treat it with.

The findings of this study are not surprising. The pharmaceutical companies have a lot of influence—on us (who hasn’t seen a pharmaceutical commercial or magazine ad lately), and on physicians (many of whose pockets are lined by these companies, in one way or another). Fortunately, when it comes to digestion, there are many dietary and lifestyle changes that can be made to improve the condition. If you are dealing with these conditions, or trying to avoid them, educate yourself!

It is true that functional dyspepsia can be difficult to treat. I have found that digestive enzymes are very helpful with easing the symptoms associated with this condition, which often result from poor diet, poor eating habits, and insufficient digestive enzyme production, all of which can be helped by digestive enzymes.

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acid blockers, belching, bloating, delayed stomach emptying, dietary, Digestive Enzymes, drugs, fullness, functional dyspepsia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, GERD, GI conditions, Heartburn, Helicobacter pylori, indigestion, lifestyle, pharmaceutical industry, physician bias, PPIs, proton pump inhibitors, stomach acid, symptoms, upper digestive condition

I know too many people who are swallowing antacid pills and potions and even taking prescription drugs on a daily basis, and it got me thinking about stomach acid and pH levels. I recently read an article titled “Too Little Stomach Acid Can Be a Problem Too” by Pharmacist Suzy Cohen. Imagine my surprise—finally someone in mainstream medicine was echoing what we in the natural health field have been saying for years now: most physicians do not test you for pH levels and just assume you have a high stomach acid level, and they hand you a prescription to reduce stomach acid—not what you need!

In reality you likely have a condition known as hypochlorhydria (low stomach acid) and can be setting yourself up for compounded health issues by taking the acid-blocking meds that are commonly prescribed. The article then goes on to say that a simple blood test for gastrin levels can indicate whether or not you have low stomach acid.

Gastrin is a hormone that is produced to stimulate the production of stomach acid.  Because it works on negative feedback, high blood levels of gastrin can indicate that your body is producing too much in an attempt to produce more stomach acid.  This could be one way to test for hypochlorhydria, but a more accurate test would be the Heidelberg capsule test.

I have to say, I was very impressed by the information contained in this article and by Dr. Cohen’s understanding of basic physiology and natural health approaches to this growing problem. Check it out for yourself, or better still, take a copy to your physician and get properly tested before swallowing any more meds.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/health/sfl-suzy-cohen-columnist,0,2948334.columnist

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Achlorhydria, Acid, digestive system, Gastric acid, Gastrin, Gastroenterology, Heartburn, Heidelberg test, hypochlorhydria, indigestion, Stomach, stomach acid, Stomach disease, Suzy Cohen

Almost everyone recovering from a heart attack, heart or stent surgery is prescribed Plavix. Its benefits in reducing blood clots and therefore further heart problems appear to be significant. However, it can irritate patient’s stomachs and so it has become common practice to almost automatically give Plavix patients a proton pump inhibitor such as Prilosec. In a study just published in the prestigious medical journal – JAMA, Dr. Michael Ho scrutinized 8,200 patient records and identified that the addition of Prilosec increased the risk of a return to hospital for heart problems during the next 18 months by 25%.

Leading Doctors including Dr. Steven Nissen of Cleveland Clinic, a candidate for the role of FDA Commissioner are now saying that there should be no automatic prescription of Prilosec with Plavix and that patients should seek alternative medications to solve their stomach problems.

See http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101386673

Take this advice an important step further:

People on Plavix should look outside the aisles of drugstores that are overloaded with heartburn and stomach acid medications. Not only do these drugs now appear to increase heart risk, but they do not get to the root of the problem of heartburn and acid reflux. Instead, nature has provided us with real solutions in the forms of digestive enzymes. These enzymes are now available in health food stores and online, for example, at http://www.renewlife.com/category/enzymes.aspx

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Digestive Enzymes, Heartburn, plavix and prilosec, proton pump inhibitiors and heart risk, stomach acid