Hey y'all!

Have you had a conversation like this before? I’ve had it with several different friends recently.

it goes something like this...

Friend: I’m struggling with [insert symptoms or ailment]... can you help?

Me: I’d love to give it a shot! Tell me about what you’ve done so far, whether it worked or not.

Friend: Well, I’ve been put on [insert medicine] but…

*here the responses may vary, but I hear a lot of the same things along the lines of…*

... it doesn’t seem to be helping...

... it helped some but then I started having [insert side effects]...

... the side effects are worse than [the symptoms or ailment]...

... it seems like a band-aid, masking the symptoms but not actually fixing the problem...

(Sound familiar to you?)

Me: OK… so have you or they considered looking into what might be causing [the symptoms or ailment] and working on that?

Friend: … no… but that sounds like a great idea!

Me: Well, I’m here to help! Let’s get started…

So now you might be asking...

What does getting to the root cause look like in real life?

Well, let's take a look at a common example I often dealt with in my hospital years:

Gastroesophageal reflux (GER)… and when it becomes chronic, it’s often called GERD.

Folks also call it heartburn, indigestion, acid reflux, ‘wet burps’ (I know, not the best name!)... but all of these terms describe the flow of stomach contents back into the esophagus.

Sometimes this flow can reach the throat, mouth, sinuses, and even be inhaled and cause a host of lung issues, not to mention bad changes it can cause in the esophagus over time… bottom line, it's bad news!

The typical approach to dealing with GER in Western medicine is acid-suppressive therapy (AST). AST uses acid-reducing medications, such as histamine H2-receptor antagonists or proton-pump inhibitors. I’m sure you can probably name a few of these, like the popular 'little purple pills.'

AST may be helpful at reducing acid production, but it does not necessarily eliminate the backflow issue, nor does it address the root cause of the digestive disruption.

Medical literature also shows that AST is often overused in hospitals and outpatient settings, and using these medications long term is not without risks. The major known ones include increased risk of bone fractures, such as hip and spine fractures, and disruption of the gut microbiome (the healthy microbes that are supposed to be in your gut). This disruption can affect immune responses and increase the risk of infections like C-diff.

Earlier this year, the American Gastroenterological Association Institute Clinical Practice Update advised “Alternative treatment methods to acid suppressive therapy may serve a role in management of EER symptoms.” These alternative methods include simple lifestyle changes that anyone can make.

During my hospital years, I had the privilege of educating hundreds of patients and families on lifestyle changes that can significantly reduce reflux symptoms. Yes, this is something that speech pathologists do!

The education was often for patients admitted with non-heart related chest pain, or recurrent pneumonia or bronchitis after we ruled out aspiration during eating and drinking, which led us to suspect that reflux was the cause of their symptoms. Most of them were already on AST, too, by the way...

What surprised me every time was that nearly 95% of these patients admitted they had never been told before about simple changes they could make to reduce their reflux symptoms and risk. They would often ask why no one had informed them sooner, and truth be told, I never had a good answer for that question...