Symptoms of GERD: Why Timely Diagnosis is CRUCIAL to Your Health

Filed Under Health

by Jeff Martin

Not many people understand the medical significance of GERD (gastro esophageal reflux disease) and the symptoms that go with it. Decline in general quality of life is the result for many GERD sufferers. For inhabitants of developed countries, the problem is considerable. No less than 1 in 5 of all inhabitants in western countries are victims every week of some of the common GERD symptoms.

From different data available, some 70% of diagnostics based on the identification of common symptoms give the right answer. Because GERD can make patients suffer enormously and also result in serious complications, it is crucial to be able to pinpoint the symptoms, diagnose them and quickly organize a solution. Doctors and paraprofessionals are of the same opinion: a first diagnosis of GERD, often via a questionnaire on typical external signs of gastro esophageal reflux disease, is essential for effective and quick treatment of this ailment.

Symptoms of GERD may include: nose and sinus problems, chest pain (can be mistaken for heart attack-related pain), dry coughing, wheezing chronically, asthma, nausea, fallout of tooth enamel, bad breath, and dysphagia (feeling of an irregularity in the back of the throat). Acid reflux may also attack the ears (otitis media) and the voice (ranging from laryngitis, hoarseness to cancer). Heartburn and regurgitation are among the commonest symptoms of GERD. It is the contents of the stomach and its acidic juices, being thrown back up in the esophagus, that makes for the distressing burning feeling associated to damage of the esophageal lining where gastro esophageal reflux disease is happening.

The essential thing for regaining health and well being, and avoiding complications is the ability to pinpoint those symptoms and interpret them in the light of gastro esophageal reflux disease.

Failing to react to gastro esophageal reflux disease can cause major physical distress and may also trigger severe health problems like pneumonia and cancer of the esophagus. Symptoms of acid reflux are frequently an outer threatening sign of internal general problems of imbalance. If a symptom (or a number of them) occurs regularly, sufferers should see a gastrointestinal specialist in order to get a full diagnosis. Luckily, victims can if they look, see the greater part of GERD symptoms prior to consulting a doctor.

Although a gastrointestinal endoscopist can provide a good preliminary diagnosis, conventional medicine as a cure for gastro esophageal reflux has two major drawbacks:

1. Medicaments available as prescriptions and over the counters only address the external symptoms of the disease, but acid reflux goes much deeper than this, being the result of a variety of different internal and external elements. In fact, life long dependency on drugs can result because a daily dose is necessary to keep the symptoms down but no action is taken to suppress the real causes. 2. Some drugs including PPIs and antacids can provoke many undesirable side effects.

The holistic program that targets the factors that are both internal and external and that trigger acid reflux, also addresses the basic problem that causes this condition. It is a much more effective answer and it works for the long term. Whatever your degree of GERD is, tackling this condition by using a holistic approach will make sure that the fundamental causes of your acid reflux problem are dealt with in safety and with permanence, to bring significant improvement to your well being.

About the Author:

Jeff Martin is a certified nutritionist and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, Heartburn No More . To Learn More GERD Symptoms Visit: GERD Symptoms

Tags: Health