Sunday, February 12, 2012

HEARTBURN is NOT Because of TOO MUCH ACID.

Today I wanted to write about a mistake that many medical doctors are making on clients every day. I see this misdiagnosis coming into my office every week. The mistake I am talking about is the diagnosis of their patients that is made when the person complains about heartburn. Now when I was growing up heartburn was not a disease - it was just the result of eating spicy foods or something that didn't agree with us. But, today this symptom has now been officially declared as "Gerd."
As a Naturopath doctor I do not diagnose these symptoms, but most of my clients who come to me have already been diagnosed and put on an anti-blocker - the standard prescription for these symptoms. As the name implies, the drug is a proton pump inhibitor - meaning that it stops the production of hydrochloric acid. And I guess that makes sense IF there was too much hydrochloric acid being produced but the NATURAL HEALTH TRUTH is: In most cases the same symptoms that the person is experiencing can be caused by too little hydrochloric acid as well. And there is no way that any doctor knows that this medicine is correct without a test to measure the amount of hydrochloric acid in the stomach.
I had a client email me and because of some burning in her sternum area her MD wanted to put her on a acid blocker and the lady is sixty years old. Since the truth is; the older we get the less hydrochloric acid our body produces, I was certain the conclusion was not correct. So, I suggested to my client she asked her doctor to do a test to measure the hydrochloric acid in her stomach? My client asked the doctor to do the test, he refused and she said no to the medicine. She came in to my office. I examined her and found that her cardiac valve was damaged. We had it repaired in two weeks and her symptoms were almost gone. The medicine would never have fixed the problem - only covering up the symptoms.
The correct amount of hydrochloric acid is imperative for perfect digestion and perfect digestion is essential for perfect health. If you or a loved one is on an acid blocker there is no way you are digesting your foods properly which guarantees you a failure of health in the near future..