The problem of stomach ailments is a plague today. What’s happening to us?

The digestive system is an extremely sensitive threat recognition system. The first one signals the problems of individual organs, reports our dietary mistakes and too much stress. You have to understand it well to protect it effectively.

1. The main threats to the digestive system are processed food and irregular meals. He is also threatened by stress, lack of sleep, and excess responsibilities
2. It is not recommended to take medications for gastric problems without specific indications. It’s always better to start with a visit to the doctor, even the first contact
3. Medicines of plant origin have proven themselves in the treatment of digestive system diseases for many years. For example, dandelion root or peppermint facilitate digestion, turmeric root is cholagogic, ginger rhizome is a good antiemetic.
4. Disturbances in the intestinal microbiome also have a negative impact on the brain and its work. What can help in such a situation?
5. More information can be found on the Onet homepage
6. ARTICLE FROM MAGAZINE: NEWSWEEK ZDROWIE & MEDONET 4/2021 

The digestive system works hard for our well-being and health. Acidic gastric juices are an effective barrier to many bacteria and microorganisms that could pass with food – they care for immunity.

The digestive system provides energy to the body and mind – it breaks down nutrients into easily absorbable microparticles. It is also responsible for the mental condition, because in the intestinal walls we have nearly half a billion neurons that create a specific intestinal nervous system. However, we live in such times that the problem of gastric ailments related to stress is a scourge today. Simultaneously With unrestricted access to medications to soothe discomfort in the abdomen, we risk overlooking an important signal about our health. How not to miss it?

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The psychology of sensation

Our stomach is mainly harmed by processed food and irregular meals. He is also threatened by stress, a race in life, lack of sleep, and excess responsibilities. The emerging ailments are often functional, not organic. They are not associated with visible damage to the mucosa (in research). However, this does not mean that the patient is faking it by reporting the problem. In the case of the stomach, chronic stress lowers the pain threshold. The stimuli that were previously unnoticeable to us suddenly begin to disturb us, becoming more and more annoying.

Stress also increases the secretion of gastric juices. When we do not eat regularly, the gastric mucosa may become irritated. There is pain, and then a syndrome of ailments: even though we have eaten little, we have a feeling of full stomach, a decline in strength. How to wisely take care of the digestive system? Specialists answer.

According to the specialist

It is not recommended to take medications for gastric problems without specific indications. It is always worth starting with a visit to the doctor, even the first contact, who will help determine the procedure. He may order basic diagnostics, such as gastroscopy. Let’s not be afraid of her. It is not pleasant, but painless, usually takes a few minutes, and facilitates the selection of a targeted treatment.

Sometimes, in the case of gastric problems, laboratory tests are also necessary. They can help determine if your body is inflamed or anemia, and whether it may be due to iron deficiency, which is often associated with blood loss from the gastrointestinal tract in erosions and ulcers. Such diagnostics will also help determine whether iron supplementation would be necessary, or whether the anemia is caused by a vitamin B12 deficiency. It may result from dietary mistakes, alcohol problems or, for example, SIBO (overgrowth of the intestinal bacterial flora).

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It makes sense to examine, for example, the parameters of the liver and pancreas efficiency. The fact that our stomach hurts does not always mean that the problem is located in a specific organ – they are adjacent to each other, and pains can radiate. Biochemical assessment of their condition helps to establish a safe treatment.

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Misunderstandings

We commonly misuse the term hyperacidity. No matter how much stomach acid we produce, only when. If during a meal – fine. The condition of the gastric mucosa is important. For example, small drug-induced damage (after overuse of over-the-counter painkillers) can be aggravated by the irritating effect of the correct amount of digestive juices.

As late as three decades ago, for doctors who did not have drugs to inhibit gastric acid secretion and did not have good diagnosis, the issue of hyperacidity (the amount of acid produced) was important. Today, such ailment is called dyspepsia – indigestion, which is a set of symptoms similar to the symptoms of gastric ulcer. Treatment is largely based on changing your diet (to make it easy to digest) and periodic use of drugs that block acid production.

The term gastric ulcer is also misused. They cannot be recognized only on the basis of the reported symptoms. An ulcer is a deep damage to the gastrointestinal wall, confirmed by imaging tests. Symptoms: bothersome, intensifying stomach pains with abnormal laboratory test results are an indication for gastroscopy.

Today, ulcers are diagnosed – often at the healing stage. It is not uncommon for the patient to go to the gastroenterologist to take a drug that suppresses stomach acid, which alleviates the problem. Whereas every patient over 45 should first undergo gastroscopy, and then introduce treatment. Otherwise, we will not be able to determine some information about the cause of the damage and the estimated time of treatment. For example, a non-digestive but cancerous ulcer (if drugs only reduce the symptoms) may escape the doctor’s attention, which then reduces the effectiveness of cancer treatment.

Smart treatment

Recurring symptoms, such as pain in the navel area, may also be an infection with the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. Undiagnosed people under 45 should have their blood tested for antibodies to see if they have had or have an infection. If an active infection is suspected, it is worth doing a stool test for antigens or a breath test. The fastest is the urease test (urease enzyme produced by Helicobacter bacteria) – performed during gastroscopy. Treating this infection with dietary supplements or herbal remedies does not work. The only effective and recommended method is antibacterial treatment plus drugs that inhibit the secretion of gastric juices – healing damage.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease, on the other hand, is the discharge of contents from the stomach into the esophagus (or sometimes bile into the stomach and into the esophagus), resulting in heartburn, a burning sensation, a sour or bitter taste in the mouth, and sometimes damage to the mucosa lining the esophagus. It is not true that only surgery can help, because everything is to blame for the impairment of the lower esophageal sphincter, which allows gastric contents to pass through.

Reflux symptoms are rarely eliminated with surgery. Treatment consists of a change in diet and lifestyle (small portions, eaten regularly) and appropriate medications. However, the most effective prevention is the disease. Let’s follow the rules of the healthy eating pyramid, which is based on physical activity (it helps to relieve stress – the greatest enemy of the digestive system). We should also remember that many gastrointestinal ailments may be related to intestinal dysfunction, which will help to pick up prophylaxis in time. It consists, inter alia, performing colonoscopy at least every 10 years in people over 50 years of age

Medicines of plant origin have proven themselves in the treatment of digestive system diseases for many years. The following are usually used as stimulants that stimulate the secretion of gastric juice and facilitate digestion: dandelion root, thistle herb, horse leaf, scratching herb, and wormwood. As cholagogue, cholagogic and healing agents for the bile ducts: radish root, turmeric root, Helichrysum flower, smoke herb, artichoke herb, mugwort herb. The ginger rhizome is considered a good antiemetic, and the bark is an antidiarrhoeal.

The most popular infusions

However, we do not always have access to so many medicinal herbs. We can help ourselves with what usually each of us has at home. Popular peppermint is an effective digestive aid. It has a relaxing effect on the smooth muscles of the digestive tract, and also causes choleretic and carminative effects.

Infusions and extracts of mint leaves reduce the tension of the muscles of the intestines and bile ducts, stimulate the functions of the stomach and liver, facilitate digestion, and at the same time have an antibacterial effect. Mint leaf extracts, such as mint drops, help with indigestion.

But beware: peppermint is not recommended for people struggling with acid-dependent ailments – e.g. heartburn. Mint stimulates the secretion of gastric juice, which could aggravate the problem. In this case, for example, chamomile will be more effective. It is one of the oldest and most common herbs – widely used in the herbal tradition. Chamomile flower infusions are administered orally in gastrointestinal inflammation and with stomach and intestinal cramps. It also has a slight toning effect on the central nervous system, which has a positive effect on the digestive system.

Recipe for a protective infusion in inflammation of the esophagus and stomach:

People looking for less known and very effective herbs can use the following mixture, which helps with stomach irritation and pain associated with e.g. reflux disease:

Mix equal amounts of mallow flowers, Icelandic lichen thallus, marshmallow root, chamomile flowers. Pour two tablespoons of herbs with half a liter of cold water and set aside for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. Then cook slowly, covered for 5 minutes, set aside for 10 minutes, strain, drink in portions 4-6 times a day.

Emotional stress manifests itself in our belly. But also vice versa – disturbances in the intestinal microbiome negatively affect the brain and its work. We have an epidemic of gastric problems today. That is why it is so important to regain the balance of body and mind. Natural medicine, without side effects, will help.

Medicines to neutralize or inhibit gastric acid secretion should not be swallowed with impunity. The basis of natural therapy is listening to the body’s needs, improving the diet, lifestyle and choosing individual treatment. A detailed interview with the patient is important, because it allows us to reach the psychological sources of the ailments. It is not without reason that we say that we “do not digest something” or that at the thought of something “we are flooded with bile”, and when the situation returns to normal and joy returns, we have “butterflies in our stomachs”. Therefore, I always analyze the patient’s individual reaction to stress, such as diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain.

1. Products that cause stomach pain

Individual approach

I choose medications according to individual symptoms, i.e. how a given patient is ill, how he reacts to ailments. This is the basis for the interview of doctors who include homeopathy in their practice. For example, with the problem of flatulence, we ask if the ailment is more related to the upper abdomen, or the lower abdomen, or to the entire abdomen? Does it occur immediately after a meal or exercise? When does it intensify, and what soothes it? Each of us is sick differently and requires different therapy. Someone is more helped by a warm compress, for another by drinking herbs. There is no one-size-fits-all medicine.

Homeopathy offers preparations tailored to specific individual ailments and can be combined with other methods. In case of gastro-intestinal indigestion in people who eat meals in a hurry, suffer from a feeling of weight in the epigastrium, belching, postprandial nausea – nux vomica can be helpful. When we are bothered by regurgitation with the taste of undigested food, semi-solid diarrhea, we do not tolerate sour food – the drug antimonium crudum.

Treatment of heartburn and reflux will be supported by, for example: nux vomica, iris versicolor, argentum nitricum, robinia, kalium carbonicum. Lycopodium, china, carbo vegetabilis will be effective for flatulence. I also recommend preparations related to stress sensitivity, such as stomach pain, to my patients. The following can help here: gelsemium, ignatia amara, argentum nitricum – they eliminate this mechanism. They can be taken prophylactically when we expect a stressful situation and want to avoid stomach sensations.

Natural treatment also includes probiotic support – especially for irritable bowel problems. Such therapy strengthens the intestinal microbiota, which is responsible not only for our immunity, but also for mental well-being. Probiotics in a natural form can be found in silage and fermented milk products. You can also use the pharmacy ones, but let’s look for bacterial strains with documented effectiveness.

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