# GERD - Causes and cures



## Mr 100 (Aug 1, 2011)

I find it hard to believe that there seems to be no consensus as to the cause of GERD.i have looked around the net and found that conventional medicine can only offer symptom management, or an 85% chance of successful surgery [with all the additional infection risks etc,].alternatives seem worth persuing. i'd be interested to know if anyone else here manages their condition mainly without conventional medicine.i think MY reflux could be caused by, or linked with a hiatal hernia and i have been researching treatments and self help with this in mind. gerd is increasingly diagnosed as people age, and i have been looking at the kinds of activities that i have stopped over the years, to see if there could be a relationship or correlation. the one thing i no longer do is anything that gets me really out of breath. so i have resolved to go cycling up some local hills, to get some strength back into my lungs and diaphragm, and squeeze that hernia back where it belongs!


----------



## rhonalomey (Aug 15, 2005)

GERD is the acid coming up from the stomach there is somtimes nothing to see it just happens. Its called a hernia but it is the openeing from the stomach to esophogus opening you cant squeeze it back. Small meals, be careful with food , dont go to sleep with full stomach. lose weight these sort of measures all help.


----------



## overitnow (Nov 25, 2001)

Or take flavonoids...


----------



## Mr 100 (Aug 1, 2011)

hi rhonalomey, acid reflux is often the symptom of a malfunctioning LES [lower esophageal sphincter] and from what i have read there is no consensus in the conventional medical community for the cause. there are numerous theories, but no proven science. it seems the doctors do not fully understand how this valve/sphincter works. perhaps this partly explains why some of the new minor surgical treatments have not had the success one might have expected.alternative views suggest that acid reducing drugs are sometimes contributing to the cause of reflux. some suggest the LES as requiring a certain level of gastric acidity to perform correctly, and that anti-acids, compound the problem. i think this is one of the reasons that lies behind the use apple cider vinegar. [concentrations of stomach acid reduce as we age,[causing reflux] - a small acv tonic before meals helps compensate for this reduction.] in my case, i think that that my whole torso could do with working out. i have been finding that i'm feeling better, with the benefit of extra exercise and that my symptoms have been reduced, and, in a very short time too.i think that getting out of breath is making my chest area, lungs and diaphragm work much harder, stimulating growth and repair.i have also made the other lifestyle changes. eg not eating late.i am now six days with no ppi, or tums!


----------

