Gastrointestinal Tract Disorders: A Case Study

     In this article, you are informed about a disease that is occurring more often in our society. It is commonly referred to as “heartburn” but is more appropriately named acid reflux disease or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Most people suffer from this disease, but think nothing of it. Perhaps they have felt it after a big meal, lying down after eating, during pregnancy, or even when bending over. Most people feel that GERD occurs after eating spicy foods, when in fact the major cause of GERD is fatty foods and the quantity of foods eaten.

When suffering from GERD, it is important to know how to adjust in order to decrease the likelihood from suffering from signs and symptoms of this disease. A person with GERD should try to figure out what kind of food triggers the reflux. There are many foods that may irritate our stomach, for example, coffee, alcohols, tomatoes, and fatty foods, however, each and every one of us may be sensitive for a particular food/beverage and once we find out what it is we have to eliminate it. It is also crucial to decrease the size of our meal. If we are prone to acid reflux, it is important that we don’t lie flat for three hours after we have eaten a meal or snack.

GERD disease, commonly referred to as GERD or acid reflux, is a condition in which the liquid content of the stomach regurgitates (backs up or refluxes) into the esophagus. The liquid can inflame and damage the lining (esophagitis) although visible signs of inflammation occur in a minority of patients. The regurgitated liquid usually contains acid and pepsin that are produced by the stomach. (Pepsin is an enzyme that begins the digestion of proteins in the stomach.) The refluxed liquid also may contain bile that has backed-up into the stomach from the duodenum. The first part of the small intestine attached to the stomach. Acid is believed to be the most injurious component of the refluxed liquid.

Commonly known as heartburn or reflux, is a condition where reflux of the gastric content into the oesophagus leads to symptoms which significantly impact a person's quality of life. Gastroesophageal reflux disease gerd is the most prevalent acid related disorder and is associated with significant impairment of health-related quality of life. Gastroesophageal reflux disease gerd occurs when acid and food in the stomach back up into the esophagus.Gerd often occurs when the lower muscle (sphincter) of the esophagus does not close properly. The sphincter normally opens to let food into the stomach. It then closes to keep food and stomach acid in the stomach. If the sphincter does not close properly, stomach acid and food back up (reflux) into the esophagus. The following may increase your risk for gerd. Gerd may be associated with several extra esophageal syndromes such as chronic cough, asthma, laryngitis, oropharyngeal ulceration and dental erosions. Available evidence indicates that therapy response rates in gerd are related to the degree of acid suppression achieved. Having an appropriate discussion with a physician is key to understanding the condition, available treatment options and the degree to which acid suppression can be achieved.

Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), commonly known as Acid Reflux, is a disease that is now affecting a lot of teenagers over the world. GERD is a heartburn caused by a leaky valve at the base of your esophagus that allows stomach acid to regurgitate (Livestrong). GERD is also caused by a bacteria found in your stomach known as Helicobacter Pylori. H. Pylori attacks the lining of your stomach and later when it has done enough damage, acidic fluid is able to get through the lining and into your esophagus, causing a heartburn (WebMD). Most people do acquire h. pylori during their childhood but most only develop its symptoms later on in life and some are never affected by the bacteria, never developing any symptoms.

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), commonly known as acid reflux disease, is a disorder in which the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) does not completely close and the stomach contents, including the acid, leak back, into the esophagus. The LES is a ring of muscle at the bottom of the esophagus that acts like a valve between the esophagus and the stomach. Your stomach is filled with acid and its main purpose is to digest the foods you eat. This acid is known to be as strong as battery acid, which your stomach was built to handle, but unfortunately your, esophagus was not. This backflow of stomach acid can irritate and sometimes damage the lining of the esophagus. If it is not controlled, acid reflux or GERD can result in serious problems,

Gastroesophageal reflux is considered a normal physiological process in healthy infants, children and adults. Most episodes last less that 3 minutes and most occur 30-60 min after meals and with reclining positions. GERD is present when the symptoms, more than twice a week, cause troublesome symptoms or complication (Cash, 2011, pp. 200). These complications can occur with severe, frequent, and persistent acid reflux causing inflammation, ulcers, and scarring. GERD can also lead to changes in the cells lining the esophagus, known as Barrett's esophagus, these changes raise the risk of esophageal cancer.

While antacids are used largely by the general public, there are no studies showing that they help or are effective in treating GERD. They are simply mechanisms to treat symptoms of a larger problem. PPI are the most effective for the treatment of GERD. The medication is orally administered as an inactive counter-part. It is converted to the active form by parietal cells in the stomach. Once active the drug causes irreversible deactivation of the enzyme that generates gastric acid. Because the deactivation is irreversible, the decrease is acid is effective until more enzyme can be produced. The goal for PPIs is to reduce stomack acid and to prevent stomach ulcer and further exacerbation of esophagitis. The medication may cause headache, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting thought the incidence of occurrence is very low. PPIs do increase the likely hood of the development of pneumonia due to the altered GI flora. Another major adverse effect is the rebound hypersecretion of acid. Patients who discontinue taking PPIs may experience dyspepsia due to acid rebound. This can be minimized by using the lowest dose and tapering the medication. Histamine receptor antagonists, though indicated for the treatment of GERD are not as effective at decrease stomach acid. PPI can decrease acid content by 90% whereas H2RAs only decrease by 65%. The medication works by blocking H2 receptors on parietal cells in the

The most common symptom that most of the people face during a bout of acidity is the regular distress that they feel in the digestive tract. The main reason for this condition is that, the stomach produces an acid to breakdown the food to help digestion. If this acid is not produced in the right amount, leading to the improper breakdown, the acid starts to accumulate and starts to move up the food pipe causing the digestive distress (http://www.joybynature.com/collections/digestion).

There are a few diseases that is very commonly diagnosed, especially in the modern and developed countries of the world. One of these commonly diagnosed diseases is, gastroesophageal reflux disease. Within the last three decades the prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease has increased by two-fold (Sonnenberg). There are multiple reasons and hypothesis why this disease is so prevalent especially in the wealthier countries of the world. Gastroesophageal reflux disease is a digestive disorder that is usually caused by an abnormality in the lower esophageal sphincter allowing reflux of stomach contents into the esophagus (What Is GERD?). When this happens that esophagus will become sore, irritated, and inflamed.

The stomach naturally produces acid, which is mainly responsible for food digestion and destruction of any foreign pathogen or bacteria ingested with food. Acid is secreted by stimulating the partial cells located in the inner lining of the stomach to release acid in response to a stimulant of food ingested, sight of food, smell, or taste. This acid secretion renders the stomach pH to be very low, this strong acid is an irritant to the stomach. In protection of the stomach, a mucus layer is present to shield the lining of the stomach from damage caused by the acid. When this protective mucus layer is damaged, ulcers are formed and even to the point of perforation of stomach (hole that causes a bleed in the stomach).

Explanations for the fast rise in occurrence of EAC involve the increasing prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux and obesity as well as the declining incidence of Helicobacter pylori infection. Helicobacter pylori infection is correlated with hypergastrinemia, the excess of gastrin in the blood. Gastrin is a hormone that is secreted by G cells situated in the gastric antrum and works on the parietal cells to trigger the production of hydrochloric acid. Constant hypergastrinemia due to daily PPI therapy contributes to the raised gastric acid-secretory capacity that is not obvious throughout PPI therapy, but that emerges quickly when the drug is stopped. Increased acid production due to hypergastrinemia poses a risk factor for development of

The nonpharmalogical treatment of peptic ulcer disease involves eliminating the use of NSAIDs, ceasing smoking, and avoiding foods and beverages that could irritate the ulcer such as spicy foods, caffeine, and alcohol.1 The patient should take non-NSAIDs for the treatment of pain such as acetaminophen. The recommended treatment regimen for patients with NSAID-induced gastric ulcers involves either a proton pump inhibitor, an H2 receptor

Acid reflux occurs when some of the acid content of the stomach flows back up into the esophagus. The stomach contains hydrochloric acid, which is there to help aid in digestion and to protect against harmful bacteria. The gastroesophageal sphincter protects the esophagus from the acid in the stomach by acting as a valve and not letting the acid back up into the esophagus. At times, the valve can fail and it allows the acid to back up into the esophagus, thus creating the sensation of heartburn (MacGill, 2015).

Peptic ulcer is a chronic ulcer formed in regions of the gastrointestinal tract where gastric juice comes into direct contact with the mucous membrane. Such ulcer usually occurs in the first part of the duodenum and in the stomach. They sometimes occur in the lower oesophagus; in the jejunum after gastro-enterostomy or partial gastrectomy; and rarely, adjacent to aberrant gastric mucosa in a Meckel’s diverticulum. The term peptic ulcer is used to describe any localised erosion of the mucosal lining of those portions of the alimentary tract that come in contact with gastric juice. This integration of tissues can also result in necrosis. The defence mechanism of gastric and duodenal mucosa is incredibly efficient. The normal mechanical, thermal or chemical insult from food is well within its power to deal with. No single factor has been identified in the causation of chronic peptic ulcer. A combination of factors leads to ulceration. Most ulcers are found in the