The Gut "Connections to Health & Disease"

Digestive disorders affect millions of individuals and cover a variety of diseases ranging from mild to severe. These conditions involve the digestive tract, also known as the gastrointestinal or GI tract. The digestive disorders of heartburn, acid reflux, and gastroesophageal reflux disease/GERD are related and have similar symptoms but are different. Accurately diagnosing digestive disorders involves a thorough medical history, imaging and lab tests, and physical examination to develop the proper treatment plan.

Digestive Disorders

The gastrointestinal tract includes the esophagus, liver, gallbladder, stomach, pancreas, and large and small intestines.

Heartburn

Heartburn has nothing to do with the heart but describes a burning sensation in the chest. Individuals experience heartburn when stomach acid flows back into the esophagus. Occasional heartburn after eating spicy foods or foods an individual is not used to is common and is no cause for alarm. Most can manage the discomfort symptoms with lifestyle adjustments and over-the-counter medications. Chronic heartburn that interferes with daily/nightly routines could indicate a more serious condition requiring medical care. Symptoms include:

• The burning discomfort sensations in the stomach and chest regions are usually worse after eating a meal, bending down, at night, and when lying down.
• A bitter or acidic taste.

Acid Reflux

The esophagus comprises mainly smooth muscle that extends from the throat down through the chest cavity and past the abdomen, where it connects with the stomach. When swallowing, the esophagus opens and squeezes food down to the bottom, where a valve (lower esophageal sphincter LES) separates it from the stomach. The valve is normally closed. When swallowing, it opens so that food can pass through and then closes up. Acid reflux is a disorder that causes the valve to open when it's not supposed to. This allows stomach contents like acid, digestive juices, enzymes, and food to flow backward from the stomach into the esophagus, causing heartburn symptoms. This usually happens when the lower esophageal sphincter is under added pressure, weakened, or malfunctioning. Symptoms can be caused by:

• Overeating.
• Eating spicy or acidic foods that can trigger symptoms.
• Eating right before going to bed.
• Medications.
• Over alcohol consumption.
• Exercising after eating.
• Pregnancy.
• Smoking.

Acid reflux and heartburn affect everyone, but most can handle the discomfort by taking antacids and avoiding the foods that brought it on. Occasional acid reflux can be treated with over-the-counter medication, including:

• Antacids.
• H-2-receptor blockers.
• If signs and symptoms worsen, or nausea, vomiting, or difficulty swallowing occurs, consult a doctor.
• Prescription medications could be recommended.

GERD

Acid reflux can progress to gastroesophageal reflux disease, a more serious form of acid reflux that lasts longer. GERD is frequent heartburn that happens two or more times a week. Other signs and symptoms can include:

• Regurgitation of food or sour liquid.
• Difficulty swallowing.
• Inflammation of vocal cords.
• A sensation of a lump in the throat.
• Coughing to clear throat constantly.
• Asthma-like symptoms.
• Chest pain, especially when lying down at night.

Various factors can cause GERD, that include lifestyle and physiological. It can develop as a result of the following:

• Delayed stomach emptying.
• Being overweight or obese.
• Medications.
• Pregnancy.
• Hiatal hernias.
• Smoking.
• Connective tissue disorders like scleroderma.

Some individuals with digestive disorders may need more extensive diagnostic evaluations, including GI endoscopy, laboratory tests, and imaging.

Chiropractic Treatment

Body misalignments, unhealthy posture, and restrictive positions can contribute to digestive disorders that put pressure on the stomach and chest, triggering symptoms. A chiropractor can realign the body and take the stress off the joints and spine, relieving the pressure on the nerves. They can also strengthen the muscles through adjustments that help alleviate pressure on the stomach. A chiropractor designs a treatment plan that suits the individual's needs, including stretches and exercises, nutrition, and health coaching to achieve and manage a healthy weight.

Chiropractic Precision

General Disclaimer *

The information herein is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified healthcare professional or licensed physician and is not medical advice. We encourage you to make healthcare decisions based on your research and partnership with a qualified healthcare professional. Our information scope is limited to chiropractic, musculoskeletal, physical medicines, wellness, sensitive health issues, functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions. We provide and present clinical collaboration with specialists from various disciplines. Each specialist is governed by their professional scope of practice and their jurisdiction of licensure. We use functional health & wellness protocols to treat and support care for the injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Our videos, posts, topics, subjects, and insights cover clinical matters, issues, and topics that relate to and directly or indirectly support our clinical scope of practice.* Our office has reasonably attempted to provide supportive citations and identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We provide copies of supporting research studies available to regulatory boards and the public upon request.

We understand that we cover matters that require an additional explanation of how it may assist in a particular care plan or treatment protocol; therefore, to further discuss the subject matter above, don't hesitate to contact Dr. Alex Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900.

Dr. Alex Jimenez DC, MSACP, CCST, IFMCP*, CIFM*, ATN*

email: coach@elpasofunctionalmedicine.com

Licensed in: Texas & New Mexico*

References

Carvalho de Miranda Chaves, Renata, et al. “Respiratory physiotherapy can increase lower esophageal sphincter pressure in GERD patients.” Respiratory medicine vol. 106,12 (2012): 1794-9. doi:10.1016/j.rmed.2012.08.023

Harding, Susan M. “Acid reflux and asthma.” Current opinion in pulmonary medicine vol. 9,1 (2003): 42-5. doi:10.1097/00063198-200301000-00007

Kahrilas, Peter J. “Regurgitation in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease.” Gastroenterology & hepatology vol. 9,1 (2013): 37-9.

Pope, C E 2nd. “Acid-reflux disorders.” The New England journal of medicine vol. 331,10 (1994): 656-60. doi:10.1056/NEJM199409083311007

When a person is overly stressed, and their body starts to develop problems, especially in the gut, it can cause harm. The gut system is essential to the body because it makes sure that the body is working correctly, that food is being consumed, and making sure inflammation does not happen to cause harm to the body. There are many gut disorders that the GI tract and the gut system can have. It can range from intestinal permeability, SIBO, gut inflammation, and GERD.

GERD or gastrointestinal reflux disease is a common disorder in the digestive tract. This disorder has chronic symptoms that can cause abnormal content in the stomach that is in the esophagus, causing mucosal damage. GERD is multifactorial and is the result of a person who may either stress, a poor diet and risk factors like smoking alcohol and medication usage can cause the condition in the stomach to be chronic if it is not being checked out. Research shows that when there is damage to the esophagus from GERD, it can be due to the cytokine-mediated being inflamed and not being caused by stomach acid directly. It stated that approximately twenty percent of adults do have GERD symptoms in their gut.

Introduction

The gut system makes sure that any food that is being digested gets turned into nutrient particles and is transported all over the entire body. The food particles will be secreted out of the body to prevent waste from building up in the gut. The primary function of the gut system is to make sure that any food is being transformed into nutrients to help with growth, metabolism, and immune support for a functional body. The gut system also has a bidirectional connection to the brain as they send information back and forth to each other and keep the organs from being dysfunctional. When harmful pathogens enter the gut system, they can develop into chronic issues and affect the gut and the body. In this article, we will be looking at what GERD is, its symptoms, and how it can affect stomach acid. By referring patients to qualified and skilled providers who specialize in gastroenterology services. To that end, and when appropriate, we advise our patients to refer to our associated medical providers based on their examination. We find that education is the key to asking valuable questions to our providers. Dr. Alex Jimenez DC provides this information as an educational service only. Disclaimer

Can my insurance cover it? Yes, it may. If you are uncertain, here is the link to all the insurance providers we cover. If you have any questions, please call Dr. Jimenez at 915-850-0900.

What Is GERD?

Research studies have shown that GERD usually occurs when stomach acid frequently flows back and forth in the tube, where the mouth and the esophagus are connected, irritating the esophagus wall lining. So GERD or gastroesophageal reflux disease is the reflux of gastric contents into the esophagus in normal physiology and is defined as reflux leading to symptoms, esophageal mucosal injury, or both. The majority of individuals with GERD will show no abnormalities on upper endoscopy, and there are not any esophageal lesions (erosions, ulceration, intestinal metaplasia) for them to be diagnosed with GERD. Other research studies have also shown that GERD is a common digestive disorder that affects people worldwide and has troublesome symptoms and conditions that can affect a person’s quality of life.

The Symptoms Of GERD

Some of the typical symptoms of GERD that individuals will experience are heartburn, which is painful retrosternal burning or pressure sensation that may be angina‐like in quality, and regurgitation, which is the rising of gastric contents into the upper throat or mouth. Studies have shown that GERD can also be defined as mucosal damage due to the production of abnormal reflux of gastric contents. GERD can also be classified as NERD (non-erosive reflux disease) or ERD (erosive reflux disease) depending on how severe the presence or absence of esophageal mucosal damage GERD has caused in the esophagus. Some of the other symptoms that GERD can cause to the gut system and the body include:

• Hoarseness
• Cough
• Asthma
• Pharyngitis
• Erosion of dental enamel
• Sinusitis
• Pulmonary fibrosis
• Tonsillar hypertrophy
• Recurrent otitis media
• Sleep disturbances or apnea

General Disclaimer *

The information herein is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional, licensed physician, and is not medical advice. We encourage you to make your own health care decisions based on your research and partnership with a qualified health care professional. Our information scope is limited to chiropractic, musculoskeletal, physical medicines, wellness, sensitive health issues, functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions. We provide and present clinical collaboration with specialists from a wide array of disciplines. Each specialist is governed by their professional scope of practice and their jurisdiction of licensure. We use functional health & wellness protocols to treat and support care for the injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Our videos, posts, topics, subjects, and insights cover clinical matters, issues, and topics that relate to and support, directly or indirectly, our clinical scope of practice.* Our office has made a reasonable attempt to provide supportive citations and has identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We provide copies of supporting research studies available to regulatory boards and the public upon request.

We understand that we cover matters that require an additional explanation of how it may assist in a particular care plan or treatment protocol; therefore, to further discuss the subject matter above, please feel free to ask Dr. Alex Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900.

Dr. Alex Jimenez DC, MSACP, CCST, IFMCP*, CIFM*, ATN*

email: coach@elpasofunctionalmedicine.com

Licensed in: Texas & New Mexico*