R U Medically Curious?
Simple Answers to Common Medical Questions
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
HEARTBURN
Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disorder GERD for short.
Here's the deal: Your Esophagus (food tube) squeezes food from mouth down to stomach. The valve at bottom of Esophagus opens. Food is squeezed into stomach. The valve closes.
Stomach secretes powerful Hydrochloric Acid to begin food breakdown. Stomach has protective lining against acid. Food tube does not have protective lining. As the valve wears out, stomach acid comes back up (refluxes) into the esophagus. Hydrochloric acid burns the lining of the esophagus causing pain.
Notice that heart - as in heartburn - wasn't mentioned? Why? The esophagus lies behind the heart. The acid damage feels like burning chest pain around the heart hence Heartburn.
- What wears out the valve: Stomach pressure from below - like pregnancy or obesity.
- Worst time for GERD: Lying down at night after eating is like high tide for acid.
- Can diet make GERD worse: Yes. Acid foods (vinegar), spicy foods (peppers), fizzy sodas (fizz is carbonic acid), and overeating (stretches the valve) all make GERD worse.
- Can drinking alcohol effect GERD pain? (Not sure? Clean your scraped knee with alcohol feels good, right?)
- Last, what's a Hiatal Hernia, and what's it got to do with GERD? That Esophagus valve becomes so loose, the top of stomach can actually pop up into the chest cavity.
Result: Constant reflux. Treatment?
- Avoid things that bother your GERD. For single episodes, neutralize the acid with Maalox, Mylanta, or old-fashioned 1 tsp. Baking Soda in small glass of water.
- Avoid antacids containing calcium temporary relief may be followed by increased acid production.
- For long term GERD, turn down the acid with H2 Blockers (Zantac Pepcid, Axid, etc.) or with PPI's (Prilosec, Nexium, Prevacid, etc.).
- Last point. GERD is miserable. But, untreated chronic GERD may cause cancer of the esophagus. Trust me, that's more than just miserable.
Importance? Nexium is a popular treatment for reflux. It's also Medicare's #1 drug expense.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
If you’re medically curious, then you’ll love the treasure trove of information that Dr. Larry Romane shares in this little book.
This longtime ER doctor has always been surprised at how little people know about medical matters, but he knows that knowledge can be challenging to grasp when doctors call a heart attack an “acute myocardial infarction” and a simple toothache an “anaerobic gingival abscess” Romane cuts through that jargon to answer questions such as:
- Why is everyone getting diabetes?
- Are brand name medicines safer than generic versions?
- Do you need antibiotics for upper respiratory infections?
He also shares valuable insights, such as: A pound of fat contains about 3,500 calories—so cutting 100 calories every day for a year would take off about ten pounds; X-rays may cause future DNA changes in a cell, leading to cancer decades in the future; and only about five percent of dog bites get infected versus sixty percent of cat bites—another reason a dog is man’s best friend.
You’ll be surprised by all the medical information you don’t know – some of it quite useful – in R U Medically Curious?
About the Author
Dr. Larry Romane has been board certified four times in emergency medicine. He spent more than thirty-five years as an emergency room doctor and has always been fascinated by how little the average patient understands about the human body.
Ted Heyman is a computer professional who has known Dr. Romane since high school. He edited and created an electronic version of Romane’s textbook on the respiratory system, Simple as ABG.