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PROTECT Your Infant Against the Dangers of GERD

By: Jeff Martin Data from recent studies show that children from 3 to 7 must endure acid reflux symptoms between 2 and 8% of the time, with this figure rising to 20% of infants who suffer. Since the 1990s, infant gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) has been on the increase. Infants challenged on a developmental or neurological level are even more at risk from attacks of GERD.

Before getting into the real causes and menaces of GERD in babies, let's make a quick survey of the cause, which is local and immediate for this medical discomfort. Plainly put, acid reflux is when the digestive system fails to operate properly, in particular the weakening of the LES being most often the reason for this. The LES is the lower esophageal sphincter. When it becomes weakened and cannot shut off all the stomach contents in the stomach, then those contents can be thrown back up into the throat, past the larynx and even into the upper breathing passage. Reflux is not only the exception. Normal digestive backpressure may cause this, for example after feeding, defecating, coughing or crying. It is a problem that may also lead to serious complications of health with the likes of feeding problems, pain, voice ailments, infections, ulcers, even cancer.

In babies, diagnosis of GERD can be especially challenging; Because of the small reservoir in their esophagus, infants vomit or regurgitate more than adults. Many infants are prone to this kind of vomiting on a regular basis as mild to moderate "spitting up", happening without distress from the mouth or nose. Because of this GERD and normal vomiting are easily confused. To compound this, indications of something wrong may be difficult to identify, especially as infants are too young to be able to explain.

Additional signs include pain in the belly, infections of the middle ear, a whistling breathing sound, enlargement of the adenoids, chronic coughing, asthma, anemia, spitting up of blood (known as hematemesis), croup that repeats, back-arching and inflammation of the nose and /or sinus. When GERD attacks your infant, a number of further symptoms such as these appear. For instance, as GERD vomiting is inherently painful, babies who vomit too often will often cry or scream for hours on end or stay awake unable to go to sleep, an indication that they may well be victims of this.

That justifies early diagnosis and treatment, prerequisites for your infant to stay safe and well. Making an appointment with a gastroenterologist or an ENT (ear, nose, throat) doctor is the best solution for getting the proper diagnosis for your child. The danger of ignoring acid reflux in infants is that it may lead to serious complications as well. An infant who comes to think that feeding means pain may refuse breastfeeding and lose body mass. Potentially grave conditions such as erosive esophagitis can also be brought on by gastroesophageal reflux disease.

If the doctor's diagnosis is of GERD, then parents have to choose a treatment. There are three possibilities of remedies for an infant with gastroesophageal reflux disease: surgical; medicaments (over the counter or prescription); or a holistic remedy.

Surgical solutions are not often considered, because of the danger of serious complications worse than acid reflux itself. Nissan Fundoplication, a surgical procedure, is one possibility, done to reduce looseness between the esophagus and stomach.

Prescription medicaments are also unsatisfactory for the reasons following: 1. Medications concentrate too much on symptoms of GERD (such as acid generation) but skip fundamental causes, such as lifestyle, diet and inner body triggers and factors. 2. For infants even more than adults, medications have certain risks. Cisapride with its severe secondary effect of heart arrythmia was taken out of circulation for that very reason. Pneumonia and Tourette's syndrome are some of the serious side effects of other common medications. Reglan and bethanechol for example have not even been tested for babies as prescribed reflux medications. 3. Medication of any kind may engender a long-term reliance and work against your child's auto-immune system to then aggravate the condition.

Studies done recently show the benefit of all natural holistic treatments of GERD. Studies by Rudolph, Mazur and Liptak also published in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology indicated that changing from cow's milk formula to a formula based in casein hydrolysate could be better for infants who "spit up". Other studies done by Ravelli, Tobanelli and Volpi which appeared in the same Journal in 2001, showed that formula based on cow's milk can result in delayed gastric emptying in infants with allergy to milk proteins. For infants with GERD, breastfeeding turns out to have significant positive points compared to any formula for babies, because milk from the breast gives faster digestive transit and overall digestion.

Therefore, the holistic solution offered by holistic medicine, which adopts as a priority the protection of your baby from gastroesophageal reflux disease can be the best choice in the long term for safety and for effectiveness. The conclusions above as well as many others, reinforce conclusions that infant GERD is not just a local ailment (going further than just the esophagus), but in fact that it is the whole human body which is affected by elements that are concerned with the environment, diet and internal factors.

Had you heard that the best way to protect your infant from the distress and pain of GERD symptoms is to choose a holistic approach in conjunction with comprehensive moves towards a natural lifestyle and diet?

Article Source: http://www.lifeweightloss.com

Jeff Martin is a certified nutritionist and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, Heartburn No More . To Learn More About Jeff Martins Unique Holistic Acid Reflux Cure System Visit: Infant GERD

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