Acid Reflux...an article I wrote back in 2010

With this article I wrote about something that helps me with this problem.



http://voices.yahoo.com/acid-reflux-5328763.html?cat=5



Acid Reflux



Is milk helpful in the treatment of acid reflux?


I have acid reflux; this is something that bothers me pretty much on a daily basis. It can be very aggravating to say the least. Acid reflux can eventually over time, lead too many different types of problems including the erosions of the lining in the esophagus. This can also contribute to conditions favorable for various throat cancers.


Acid Reflux can be effectively treated with medication, provided you are able to afford to buy this medication. Some medications are less expensive that others, or a better phrase may be more "environmentally friendly" to your wallet. However what is economical for you may not be for someone else.


Also it has really only been recently have there been so many medications marketed specifically to the treatment of acid reflux. By recently, I mean within the last hundred years.


That is not to say no one had ever had acid reflux or heartburn before this. To say so would be a lie. Heartburn has been around a long time, in my personal opinion.


I am not sure there have been studies as yet, to who developed the first case of heart burn. Maybe there has been I wouldn't know at the moment, as I would need to go look up that information.


So is milk good for treating acid reflux? In my personal opinion, based on me I would say yes, especially when you have a severe case in the middle of the night, as I often do.



Drinking a glass of milk, after I've been awakened with the horrible burning that is acid reflux, has been helpful in taking the sting off of what is a very painful condition. At least it is to me.



Whether it is helpful long term or not has yet to be seen. In my opinion it does not cure it acid reflux or heartburn, because if it did I would not still be bothered with acid reflux or heartburn at all.



Most treatments for acid reflux "treat" symptoms rather than cure the problem. This is in my opinion because most people would rather the "symptom" gone, rather than undergo often expensive diagnostic testing that may end up with nothing other than a large bill that you may or may not be able to pay.



So that being said, in my personal opinion if drinking a glass of milk at the onset of an attack of heartburn helps you, then it is helpful. Whether or not it is actually good I really don't know about that. It may actually do more harm than good. Especially if drinking milk is more of a placebo than a truly effective treatment.



Sometimes you do need to go see a doctor. Especially if you are having repeated episodes of heartburn, without having over eaten, *sometimes in fact most times heartburn or acid reflux may be a direct result of eating too much. It can also be tied to obesity.



Drinking milk adds extra calories that most people do not need. Especially people who are having "acid reflux problems" that are directly related to obesity.



Losing weight may be a better idea than drinking milk for acid reflux, also finding any underlying conditions if possible, and then treating that is a better idea in my opinion than making the problem worse due to adding extra calories that are not needed.



So yes, my answer is short-term quick fix type treatment for acid reflux can be a glass of milk. But long term no. Long term you need to find the root cause of the problem, and correct that if at all possible.